Nine more people have died in North East hospitals after contracting coronavirus.
A total of 178 deaths were reported by NHS England on Sunday afternoon, taking the total number of Covid-19-related fatalities in England hospitals to 22,972.
Of these, 33 occurred on May 9, 88 were confirmed on May 8 and 27 were reported on May 7.
The figures also show 24 of the new deaths took place between May 1 and May 6, four took place in April, while the remaining two occurred in March, with the earliest new death taking place on March 17.
In the North East, North Tees reported the most with three while there were two in the Northumbria trust area.
North East deaths by NHS trust
County Durham and Darlington - 1
Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear - 0
Gateshead - 1
Northumbria - 2
South Tyneside and Sunderland - 1
Newcastle - 1
North Tees and Hartlepool - 3
South Tees - 0
Tees Esk and Wear Valleys - 0
The latest figures come just hours before Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce how the current UK lockdown will be changed.
The new 'stay alert' slogan introduced by the Government has been criticised, including by ministers in Scotland and Wales.
