Health chiefs confirm 400th coronavirus case in Brighton and Hove

Health chiefs this afternoon said that there have now been 400 cases of the covid-19 coronavirus in Brighton and Hove since testing began.

In neighbouring West Sussex 1,230 cases have been confirmed and in East Sussex the figure was 648, making 2,278 across Sussex as a whole.

The most recent daily update from Public Health England (PHE) said that there 3,877 new lab-confirmed cases of the virus, making 223,060 so far.

PHE also reported a further 210 “covid-19 associated UK deaths”, bringing the total to 32,065 since the start of the pandemic.

The number of deaths reported by Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals (BSUH) remained unchanged at 110.

The trust runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital, in Brighton, and the Princess Royal Hospital, in Haywards Heath.

The Royal Sussex and Royal Alex hospitals take patients from outside Brighton and Hove. And the number of coronavirus deaths may include people who had tested positive but who died from another condition.

The local NHS figures do not, however, include those who died from the coronavirus at home or in a hospice, care home or nursing home.

Sussex Community Foundation Trust, which has its headquarters at Brighton General Hospital, has reported 15 deaths so far. Although the Brighton General is no longer run as a hospital, the trust runs hospitals elsewhere in Sussex.

Western Sussex Hospitals, which shares its leadership with BSUH and runs hospitals in Worthing and Chichester, has now recorded 86 deaths, with just two of those in the past week.

Another neighbouring trust, East Sussex Healthcare, which runs hospitals in Eastbourne and Hastings, has reported 71 deaths, while the figure for Surrey and Sussex Healthcare has risen to 214.

The most recent mortality figures from the Office for National Statistics suggests that almost a third of all coronavirus-related deaths happened in a care home or nursing home.

This evening the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas, is due to ask a question – remotely – in the House of Commons about the Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s statement this afternoon.

Mr Johnson spoke about the phased easing of the lockdown rules, with the Labour opposition leader, Sir Keir Starmer, criticising a lack of clarity and reassurance.