West Sussex NHS trust sees first Covid-19 death in more than two weeks

A patient who tested positive for coronavirus has died at a West Sussex hospital trust, the first Covid-19 related death there in more than two weeks.

NHS England figures from Saturday showed the patient passed away at a site run by the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust last Wednesday (October 28th).

A total of 128 patients have now died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus since March at the trust, which runs St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, Worthing Hospital and Southlands Hospital in Shoreham.

The last death recorded at the trust prior to that had been on October 12th.

Public Health England figures showed 433 people had died with Covid-19 in West Sussex within 28 days of their first positive test as of Monday (November 2nd).

Of those, 107 were in Mid Sussex, 88 were in Horsham, 70 were in Crawley, 55 were in Worthing, 43 were in Arun, 42 were in Chichester and 28 were in Adur.

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.

A further 801 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the last seven days in West Sussex, bringing the total number of confirmed cases recorded in the county since March to 5,872.

The rate of infection in the county - 679.6 for every 100,000 people - remains below the England average of 1,561.7 and the South East average of 841.2.

Here's how many people have tested positive for Covid-19 in West Sussex in the last week (figures in brackets show the rate per 100,000 people).

Crawley - 168 (149.5)

Mid Sussex - 138 (91.4)

Chichester - 135 (111.5)

Arun - 131 (81.5)

Horsham - 96 (66.8)

Worthing - 84 (76)

Adur - 49 (76.2)

Here's how many people have tested positive for Covid-19 in West Sussex since the start of the pandemic (figures in brackets show the rate per 100,000 people).

Mid Sussex - 1,140 (754.9)

Horsham - 1,057 (735.1)

Crawley - 944 (839.8)

Worthing - 820 (741.6)

Arun - 803 (499.5)

Chichester - 718 (592.8)

Adur - 390 (606.5)

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