NHS England confirms 17 more coronavirus deaths at Northamptonshire hospitals

NHS England today confirmed 17 more coronavirus deaths since Friday at Northamptonshire's hospitals with the sobering total heading towards 1,200.

Latest figures from the Office of National Statistics has confirmed 938 victims among county residents in 9 and a half months from March to the end of December.

Hospitals have seen a further 152 deaths since January 1 — including those confirmed today (Wednesday) — while a further 212 deaths are linked to Covid-19 in the county's care homes up to January 8.

Yet Northampton General Hospital CEO Deborah Needham admitted doctors and nurses on the front line despair at the minority of people who dispute the effect the coronavirus is having.

NGH has seen 544 deaths, was treating 245 Covid-positive patients by the middle of last week and has been forced to expand critical care unit to cope.

Yet Ms Needham said: "It can be really upsetting for our staff who are working hard every single day to constantly hear claims that this pandemic is not real.

"I know it's a minority, but it's one too many.

"If I could let people into this hospital I absolutely would so you can see it is real.

"People are saying our staff are not busy and that there are empty areas. This is not true at all.

"The increasing spread of the virus in our community is being reflected across both hospitals where we have got some extremely poorly patients. In fact, numbers now almost double what they were in first wave of pandemic.

"What is keeping our staff going at the moment is that the majority of the public know that they are doing everything they can to keep them safe and are sticking to the rules."

ONS data shows the number of deaths by postcode since the pandemic began where Covid-19 was the underlying or main cause on the death certificate. It includes those who lived in the county but may have been taken to hospitals elsewhere, such as Milton Keynes, Peterborough or Oxford.

Of the 938 listed across all areas of Northamptonshire, 163 were recorded during December while 339 where from within the Northampton Borough Council boundary with Kingsley Park and Racecourse, Cliftonville and Rushmere and Lodge Farm the hardest hit areas.

East Northamptonshire has seen 141 deaths — including 24 in the rural area of Ringstead, Woodford and Stanwick — Kettering 119, Wellingborough 88 and Corby 67.

Daventry district has seen 95 deaths and South Northants 89.

An interactive ONS map allows the public to check latest data using their postcode HERE.

The location of a further 21 Covid deaths in settings run by Northamptonshire Healthcare Federation Trust are not confirmed by NHS England.

The Trust operates a number of community hospitals and healthcare sites in the county and also at prisons in Bedford, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Lincolnshire.