MORE than 20 Covid patients were being cared for at the trust which runs Colchester Hospital.

East Suffolk and North Essex Trust, which runs Colchester Hospital, was caring for 26 coronavirus patients in hospital as of Tuesday, figures show.

NHS England data shows the number of people being treated in hospital for Covid-19 by 8am on July 20 was up from 13 on the same day the previous week.

There were three beds occupied by Covid-19 patients four weeks ago in East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust.

Across England there were 3,894 people in hospital with Covid as of July 20, with 544 of them in mechanical ventilation beds.

The number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised nationally almost trebled in the last four weeks, while the number on mechanical ventilators more than doubled, increasing by 140 per cent.

The figures also show that 30 new Covid patients were admitted to hospital in East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust in the week to July 18.

This was up from 17 in the previous seven days.