FOUR further deaths of coronavirus patients have been confirmed by Sussex hospital trusts over the weekend.

There have now been 628 deaths of Covid-19 patients at hospitals in the county.

Two deaths have been recorded at sites operated by the Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust since Friday, taking the trust’s total to 259. A further casualty was confirmed by the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, meaning the trust’s figure reached 147, and the final death was the 90th confirmed at the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

The figures for the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (113) and Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust (18) have not increased since Friday.

But the number of coronavirus cases rose in all areas of Sussex, taking the overall Sussex figure to 5,015. The greatest increase occurred in East Sussex, with the figure for the region climbing from 1,505 to 1,530.

The West Sussex total leapt up by nine, reaching 2,710, while the Brighton and Hove number reached 775 - an increase of five.

Nationally, there were 217 coronavirus deaths confirmed between 5pm on Thursday and 5pm on Saturday, taking the total to 44,819. There have now been 289,603 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the UK.