THE number of people to test positive for coronavirus in Brighton and Hove continues to rise.

A total of 165 people in the city have now been diagnosed with the virus.

This number has more than tripled in the past week, with the sharpest increase happening in the last 48 hours as the figure rose from 86 since Wednesday.

Elsewhere, the number of people confirmed to have the illness in East and West Sussex has also increased.

The East Sussex total has risen from 229 to 279 overnight, and the figure for West Sussex now sits at 330 - with ten further cases confirmed in the past 24 hours.

The latest number of deaths of coronavirus patients in hospital trusts within Sussex, released yesterday, is 160 - up from 142 the day before.

An update will be released this afternoon.

This figure does not include those who have died outside hospital trusts, such as in care homes.

There have now been more than 65,077 people diagnosed with coronavirus in the UK, with 7,978 people who have tested positive for the illness having died as of 5pm on Wednesday.

This bank holiday weekend, authorities including the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Brighton and Hove City Council and Sussex Police are urging people to "stay home, save lives" to prevent the further spread of coronavirus.

Police are patrolling the seafront in Brighton and Hove and moving along people who are sitting down or sunbathing as officers use new Government powers to encourage and enforce new social distancing guidelines, which ask people not from the same household to stay two metres or more away from one another.

  • The coronavirus Sussex Crisis Fund has been set up to help those affected by the pandemic. The Argus’s charity and American Express have each donated £50,000 to kick-start the appeal. Grants will usually be for up to £5,000. More information is available at www.sussexgiving. org.uk/apply. To donate visit www.totalgiving.co.uk/appeal/sussexcrisisfund