Nine people died of coronavirus across North Somerset the same time Weston General Hosptial closed its doors to coronavirus patients.
Somerset Live reports the latest data from the Office of National Statistics showed nine coronavirus-realted deaths occurred in North Somerset in the week ending May 29. This covers the immediate period after Weston General Hospital temporarily closed because of its high number of patients with Covid-19.
It is not clear from the data whether the deaths recorded occurred at Weston General Hospital, but it is another indication North Somerset saw a spike in coronavirus cases relative to the rest of Somerset last month.
The figures, which do not take into account any deaths which have occurred at hospitals since May 29, show 40 people have died with Covid-19 in North Somerset in the past five weeks.
North Somerset remains by far the area of Somerset with the most Covid-19 cases, with 479 people confirmed as having tested positive for the virus since the start of the outbreak.
In contrast, Somerset West and Taunton the area with the second-largest outbreak in the county, has seen 306 cases.
The number of hospital deaths attributed to COVID-19 across each part of Somerset in the week up to May 29, according to the ONS, was as follows:
- North Somerset - 9
- Sedgemoor - 3
- Mendip - 3
- Somerset West and Taunton - 3
- South Somerset - 2
- Bath and North East Somerset - 0
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Weston General Hospital began accepting new patients and restarted services in a "carefully planned and phased way" on Wednesday, June 10.
The hospital is also restarting a number of clinics and says patients do not need to call the hospital as they will be contacted to confirm arrangements for them to attend their appointment.
Work continues to reopen the accident and emergency department as soon as possible and the aim is for this to be by the end of next week, the hospital says.
