One person dies at St Helens and Knowsley hospital trust

Data published by NHS England show that a patient died at the trust on Monday, August 3, after testing positive for Covid-19.

The last death to be announced at the Merseyside trust, which runs Whiston, St Helens and Newton hospitals, was on July 22, which had occurred on July 17.

READ > Public health chief has this key message regarding coronavirus infection rate

Daily death counts are revised each day, with each case backdated to the actual date of death.

This means some of the deaths that were first recorded in the last 24 hours may have taken place days earlier.

The revised total means St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has recorded 209 coronavirus deaths since the start of the outbreak.

All of the recorded deaths at the trust are patients who had tested positive for Covid-19.

Across England, a further five people who tested positive for the Covid-19 have died.

Patients were aged between 45 and 86 years old and all had known underlying health conditions.

Three deaths have been reported where there was no positive Covid-19 test result, but where Covid-19 is documented as a direct or underlying cause of death on the death certificate.

Today’s update brings the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 29,376.

According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 105 people from St Helens died in hospital.

In addition, 82 people died in care homes, eight people died at home, two people in a hospice and one person died ‘elsewhere’.

82 deaths in St Helens care homes have been linked to coronavirus

The latest ONS figures are for deaths that occurred up to July 24 but were registered up to August 1, which means it does not include the patient who died on Monday.

Taking this into account, this means 199 deaths in St Helens has been linked to coronavirus.

The ONS figures includes all deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate.

In terms of infections, as of Thursday, 1,219 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in St Helens, according to Public Health England (PHE).

This is an increase of nine new infections from Wednesday.

The PHE figures includes both pillar one data and since the beginning of July, has also included pillar two data.

Pillar one data is swab testing analysed in NHS or PHE laboratories and which make up the Government’s mass testing programme.

Pillar two data, swab tests for the wider population carried out by commercial partners at places such as drive-through test centres like the one in Haydock, and in care homes.

A testing facility has been established at Haydock Park Racecourse

Weekly PHE surveillance data released by the Government today says that between July 22 and July 28, St Helens had a weekly infection rate of 2.8, up from 1.7 the previous week.

On Wednesday, St Helens Borough Council said the weekly infection rate had fallen to the lowest in the North West.

The council said that, between July 29 and August 4, the weekly infection rate in St Helens had fallen to 1.1, per 100,000 population.

In light of this, Sue Forster, the director of public health for St Helens, warned that infection rates could begin to rise again if the public gets complacent.

READ > Independent councillor Gill Neal quits council amid cancer battle

Ms Forster said: “Rates could easily rise in St Helens borough and it may be that we are behind the curve of neighbouring areas.

“And as we have seen in other parts of the region and the country, restrictions can be reintroduced where rates appear to increase.

“Please continue to follow the rules and be considerate to others, so we can all enjoy the greater freedoms of lockdown easing.”