Wednesday update: Four more Covid-19 deaths confirmed at Northamptonshire's hospitals

Killer bug is now known to have claimed 637 lives across the county
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Four more Covid-19 victims were confirmed at Northampton General Hospital by the NHS on Wednesday.

Data issued today revealed the four patients who had all tested positive for the the killer bug died between Friday and Sunday.

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That takes the grim total to 510 fatalities in the county's two main hospitals when latest figures were collated at 5pm on Tuesday night.

Today's news may appear alarming but figures released on Wednesdays are often higher than in the rest of the week. Seven hospital deaths were announced a week ago and eight on Wednesday, June 17.

Daily bulletins usually allow up to a five-day lag in reporting new fatalities among patients testing positive for the coronavirus — or even longer. So, any deaths which have may have occurred since Friday may still not be included in official records.

NGH has now seen 297 victims since the first coronavirus death in the county back on March 16 while a further 213 have died at Kettering General Hospital — although no more were recorded on today's list.

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A further 127 victims in Northamptonshire care homes means the total of known Covid-19 deaths stands at 637.

Four more deaths among Covid-19 patients in Northampton has taken the total to 510 in the county's two main hospitalsFour more deaths among Covid-19 patients in Northampton has taken the total to 510 in the county's two main hospitals
Four more deaths among Covid-19 patients in Northampton has taken the total to 510 in the county's two main hospitals

The official lnumber of new infections has slowed considerably in recent weeks although focus is now likely to shift to how many test results are actually being reported.

Leicester became the first area forced into a 'local lockdown' this week following a sharp rise in the number of new infections.

Shops in the city which only reopened two weeks ago are now shuttered again. And while Northampton's pubs and restaurants can reopen

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Last night's latest official figures showed 1,691 positive tests in Northamptonshire since the pandemic first struck with just 16 fresh cases in the last week.

Yet numbers published daily by Public Health England only shows results from swab tests in labs, in NHS hospitals and among health and care workers which are known as Pillar 1 data.

Initially, the majority of tests were being carried out at hospitals so the Pillar 1 data was accurate enough to show where the virus was spreading quickest.

Now, however, most tests are done at drive-through centres or by ordering home kits online.These Pillar 2 results are not included in published data but will be used by scientists to identify potential hotspots.

According to Government data for Leicester, the city has 80 new positive tests between 13 and 26 June. Yet Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there had, in fact, been 944 cases.