Third coronavirus death in three days at West Sussex hospital trust
It brings the total number there to 123
For the third time in as many days, a patient diagnosed with coronavirus has died at a hospital in West Sussex.
The death at the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which took place on Wednesday, brings the total recorded since the start of the outbreak to 123 according to figures from NHS England.
Two deaths had been recorded at the trust on Monday and Tuesday this week.
The trust runs St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, Worthing Hospital and Southlands Hospital in Shoreham.
No other deaths were recorded at hospital trusts across Sussex in the last 24 hours, according to the latest update of figures released on Thursday.
The victims were among 3,606 deaths recorded across the South East.
Of 25 trusts within the region, Western Sussex Hospitals trust has the 15th-highest death toll.
Daily death counts are revised each day, with each case backdated to the actual date of death.
This means some of the deaths that were first recorded in the latest period may actually have taken place days earlier.
NHS England guidance states: "Confirmation of Covid-19 diagnosis, death notification and reporting in central figures can take up to several days and the hospitals providing the data are under significant operational pressure."
Only deaths that occur in hospitals where the patient has tested positive for Covid-19 are recorded, with deaths in the community excluded, such as those in care homes.