No coronavirus deaths at St Helens hospital trust

The weekend saw no new deaths reported by the trust, which runs Whiston, St Helens and Newton hospitals, and today’s update has continued that trend.

Due to the way the NHS reporting system works, there is usually a lag over the weekend as the figures on deaths work their way through the system, meaning Monday’s figure tends to be lower before rising again on Tuesday.

But it is yet another encouraging sign of the overall picture in St Helens, although public health officials have stressed the importance of following key advice on social distancing and hygeine.

From today, it is compulsory for most people to wear a face covering on public transport to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

Face masks/coverings must also be worn at all times at any of the hospitals managed by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Face masks can be provided by the trust on arrival.

Face masks must be worn at all times at hospitals and other services ran by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Since the start of the outbreak, 202 people have died at the trust after testing positive for COVID-19.

The figures are updated every day and include confirmed death cases reported at 5pm the previous day.

At the latest count, a further 28 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died in hospitals in England.

Patients were aged between 59 and 100 years old. All patients had known underlying health conditions.

In addition, the deaths of two people were recorded where COVID-19 was mentioned on their death certificate, despite them not testing positive for the virus.

Today’s figures bring the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 27,982.

The hospital figures are updated by NHS England and NHS Improvement every day and include confirmed death cases reported at 5pm the previous day.

Cases are only included in the data when a positive COVID-19 test result is received, or where COVID-19 is documented as a direct or underlying cause of death on the death certificate.

This results in a lag between a given date of death and the daily death figures for that day, meaning reported deaths may have occurred several days prior to them being reported.

The daily NHS figures do not include deaths outside hospital, such as those in care homes or in private homes.

NHS England and NHS Improvement do not publish recovery figures.

Locally, the number of deaths and infections have significantly slowed in recent weeks.

The last death to be reported was on Friday, when one death at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was included in the figures.

And the latest figures from Public Health England show that 760 people had been confirmed as testing positive for COVID-19 since the start of the outbreak by 9am on Sunday.

The figure was revised down from 761 at the same time on Friday.

According to the government website, figures are constantly reviewed and “technical issues” can affect the cumulative figure counts.

From today, all non-essential shops have been allowed by the government to reopen as the coronavirus lockdown is eased further.

Every shop is required to operate in line with the government’s current social distancing guidelines, with the latest public health advice signposted around St Helens’ town centres.

Public health advice has been put up around St Helens' town centres

Cllr Richard McCauley, St Helens Council’s cabinet member for economic regeneration and Housing, said: “The vast majority of residents have done an incredible job of staying at home and only travelling for essential reasons over the last few months, and while it is important to make sure we are supporting our local economy, it’s also important to think about managing people’s health too through this pandemic.

“For many shopping is a social activity but we’d urge people to see it just now as a means to buying what is needed.

“Social distancing has a huge impact on how many people are allowed inside a store so please be patient, be kind to the staff who are there to help keep you safe and be prepared to follow guidance such as one-way systems in shopping centres and stores.

“One day, hopefully soon, shopping can return to being an opportunity to catch up with friends and socialise as well as shopping.”