THE first new Cumbrian coronavirus death in almost a fortnight has been recorded at one of the county's hospital trusts, according to NHS figures.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) recorded a Covid 19-related death at one of its hospitals this week.

UHMBT runs Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal and Furness General Hospital on the edge of Barrow, among other health centres.

Meanwhile, no new deaths have been recorded at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC), which manages the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and Whitehaven’s West Cumberland Hospital.

Health service statistics at the weekend suggested there had been no new deaths at hospitals in Cumbria for around ten days, before UHMBT recorded the death on Monday.

However, last week a spokesman for UHMBT warned that, since the figures are being updated retrospectively and the criteria continues to change, it is not possible to categorically say no Covid-19 deaths have occurred on the dates given by NHS England.

The daily NHS England figures also do not cover care home deaths in the country.

The total number of Covid-19 deaths at UHMBT now stands at 160. Meanwhile, the overall number of fatalities linked to Covid-19 at NCIC remains 146.

Covid-19 death registrations in the UK in the week to May 15 reached their lowest point since the beginning of April.

Nationally, a further 183 people who had tested positive for the Covid-19 were confirmed to have died yesterday, bringing the total number of reported deaths at hospitals in England to 26,049.

Across the UK, 209 deaths were confirmed yesterday. Of those deaths, 44 were recorded in the North West, meaning it had the highest regional fatality numbers in England.

The Department of Health confirmed yesterday that the total number of fatalities as a result of Covid-19 in the UK had exceeded 37,000 - with the total number said to be 37,048 and over 265,000 cases of the disease reportedly confirmed.

It was also reported this week that the number of excess deaths registered in the UK during the Covid-19 outbreak has almost reached 60,000.

And, based off new figures from the Office for National Statistics this week, the number of deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK is thought to have passed 47,000 overall.