Covid cases in hospitals have risen sharply in the North East, after the region became the most infected in England.
Government data shows that in the North East and Yorkshire, 376 Covid patients were in hospital on Tuesday - a weekly increase of 75%.
And 102 people were admitted on Sunday alone - a figure that has more than doubled week on week.
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And it has taken less than a fortnight for number of sick patients requiring ventilation to double, with 55 currently needing support.
However deaths are still significantly lower than they were at this stage of previous waves of the pandemic.
Newcastle City Council's latest Covid dashboard shows that there were 67 total deaths in the two weeks prior to June 18. Of those deaths, just one was linked to Covid.
The increase in hospital cases came after the North East became the country's biggest Covid hotspot, although South Tyneside's infection rate has since overtaken Newcastle's.
Several postcodes now have infection rates that are so high, around one in every 100 people have the virus - despite the success of the vaccine rollout.
Nationally, there are currently just under 2,000 Covid patients in hospital with around a fifth of those requiring ventilation.
ChronicleLive approached NHS England for comment. It has yet to respond.
The statistics come just days after Boris Johnson confirmed all restrictions would be eased on July 19 - a date dubbed 'Freedom Day'.
The Prime Minister announced on Monday that all venues - including nightclubs - would reopen while face masks and caps on gatherings would no longer be legally enforceable.
