THE trust which runs Colchester Hospital was caring for two Covid patients as of Tuesday, latest figures show.

NHS England data shows noone was being treated in hospital for Covid-19 at 8am on June 1 and a rise to just two a week later.

There were eight beds occupied by Covid-19 patients four weeks ago in hospital run by the East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust.

Across England there were 879 people in hospital with Covid-19 as of June 8, with 140 of them in mechanical ventilation beds.

The number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised nationally has decreased by five per cent in the past four weeks, however, the number on mechanical ventilators has increased by 11 per cent.

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The rise in coronavirus cases across England, with up to 96% of new cases estimated to be the Delta variant, should be ringing “alarm bells” ahead of lockdown being lifted, ministers are being warned.

The latest figures from Public Health England (PHE), published on Friday, show that 42,323 cases of the Delta variant first identified in India have been confirmed in the UK, up by 29,892 from last week.

It estimates that the strain is 60% more transmissible compared with the previously dominant Alpha, or Kent, variant, and that cases are doubling every four and a half days in some parts of England.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Coronavirus chairwoman Layla Moran said the figures should “set alarm bells ringing in Government”.

The Lib Dem MP added: “These figures should set alarm bells ringing in Government as we approach June 21.

“The Government must immediately explain to the public whether this exponential growth suggests the country is in line for a severe third wave, and if so what it is doing to prevent this.”