No new Covid-19 deaths at Northamptonshire hospitals as Boris outlines his way out of lockdown

No new Covid-19 deaths were recorded in a single 24-hour period at Northamptonshire's two main hospitals for the first time in seven weeks.

Numbers released by NHS chiefs revealed zero deaths were reported and registered between 5pm on VE Day and 5pm Saturday (May 9) at either Northampton General Hospital or Kettering General Hospital.

It breaks a run of at least one coronavirus-related victim in the daily data going back 42 days to March 29.

The news came on the same day that Prime Minister Boris Johnson took "the first careful steps" in easing the coronavirus lockdown with people encouraged to return to work where possible and, from Wednesday, allowed to spend more leisure time.

In the PM's address to the nation, Mr Johnson said that from today anyone who cannot work from home — construction and manufacturing workers for example — should be "actively encouraged" to go to work.

And from Wednesday, he added: "You can sit in the sun in your local park, you can drive to other destinations, you can even play sports but only with members of your own household."

But people are warned there will be increased fines for those who fail to stick to social distancing guidelines.

Sobering figures show front line NHS staff battling the Covid-19 crisis in Northamptonshire have seen 314 victims die during the pandemic.

Of those, 191 were patients in Northampton and a further 123 at Kettering General Hospital since the first victim died on March 16.

These figures only include hospitalised cases, however. A further 60 coronavirus-related deaths are known to have occurred in the county's care homes up to May 1.

A total of 1,128 positive Covid-19 tests have now been processed in Northamptonshire. The rise of 25 revealed by Public Health England on VE Day was the biggest in the county since April 22.

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