No Covid deaths in Morecambe Bay hospitals for 10 days

This is the longest period of time without a death from the virus since September 2020 at hospitals run by University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust (UHMBT), which has now seen a total of 579 deaths from Covid-19 recorded.

The deaths are recorded when someone has died after testing positive for coronavirus within the last 28 days at UHMBT hospitals, with the numbers roughly split between the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Furness General Hospital in Barrow.

As of Tuesday March 23, there were 42 patients in UHMBT hospitals being treated for Covid-19, two of which were on ventilators.

Since the start of the pandemic, as of Sunday March 21, UHMBT has treated 1,951 people for the virus.

Meanwhile, in the Lancaster City Council region itself, the total number of deaths within 28 days of first positive test result for Covid-19 reported up to Tuesday March 30 is 283.

The total number of deaths where Covid-19 is mentioned as a cause on the death certificate, registered up to Friday March 19, is 324.

The total number of people with a positive Covid-19 virus test (either lab-reported or lateral flow device) reported up to Tuesday March 30 in the Lancaster region is 9.308.

Of those, 56 people in Lancaster reported positive Covid tests in the seven days up to March 30 (no change on the previous week) - and the city currently has an infection rate of 43.8 based on a rolling seven-day period up to March 26.

This is based on the number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 people, and compares with an England average of 54.7.