Five more patients in Basildon and Southend have died after testing positive for the coronavirus.

There were 12 deaths associated with the virus in Essex in the past 24 hours.

Two of those were at Basildon Hospital, three at Southend Hospital, two under the care of the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust based in Runwell, and five under the Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust in Harlow.

This means 22 have died from the virus in Basildon and ten in Southend.

A further 561 people who tested positive for the coronavirus in England have died in the past day.

This brings the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 2,698.

The patients were aged between 22 and 100-years-old. 

Of these, 44 of the 561 (aged between 25 and 100 years old) had no known underlying health conditions.