A BRIGHTON hospital trust has recorded its first coronavirus death in five days.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust reported the death of one patient in the 24 hours leading up to 5pm on Wednesday. There have now been 152 virus deaths at its sites.

Across Sussex, there were a further 168 cases reported in 24 hours, latest official figures show.

There have now been a total of 9,324 positive tests in the county.The greatest increase recorded in the 24 hours leading up to 9am yesterday was in West Sussex where there were a further 82 cases.

This takes the region’s total to 4,717 people testing positive for Covid-19. In Brighton and Hove the figure climbed by 44, rising to 1,857, while East Sussex reached 2,750 – an increase of 36.

In the 24 hours leading up to 9am yesterday, another 21,242 coronavirus cases were reported across the UK. There have now been a total of 810,467 cases recorded since the first positive test in February.

The number of coronavirus deaths in the UK also increased yesterday, rising by 189 in the 24 hours to 5pm on Wednesday. Nationally, there have now been 44,347 deaths of people within 28 days of testing positive and 58,164 deaths with Covid-19 on the death certificate.