73 coronavirus deaths reported in the Anglia region on Christmas Day

Collage of NHS hospitals in the Anglia region - Southend, Kettering, Basildon and Northampton

The NHS reported on Christmas Day that 73 coronavirus patients had died in hospitals in the Anglia region - the highest daily figure since April.

The Luton & Dunstable Hospital in Bedfordshire declared that 18 patients had died and there were 14 deaths at Southend Hospital.

Although the figures are reported by NHS England every day, the patients included in the daily total may have died over several of the previous few days.

On Monday 21 December there were 64 patients deaths in hospitals in the Anglia region which was the highest in a single day in the area since 28 April when 72 patients died. The highest number in a single day was 120 on 8 April.

Since the start of the pandemic in March, the Anglia region has seen 8,079 people dying with coronavirus or with Covid-19 mentioned on their death certificate. The total includes those who have lost their lives in hospitals, care homes, hospices, in the community and in their own homes.

More than 1,400 people have died in the region in November and December.

Most of the Anglia region is in now in the highest level of coronavirus restrictions with all of Essex, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk entering Tier 4 on Boxing Day along with Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Peterborough and Milton Keynes.

Northamptonshire entered Tier 3 on Boxing Day along with Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. Rutland remains in Tier 2

The number of coronavirus deaths in each county in the Anglia region since the start of the pandemic Credit: Data from the NHS, Care Quality Commission and the Office of National Statistics