TWENTY FOUR more coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the latest 24-hour period, according to figures from NHS England.

Five more Covid-19 patients have died at Dorset County Hospital, as of 5pm on Thursday, January 21.

NHS England reports that three people with coronavirus died on Wednesday, January 20 and two patients with Covid-19 died on Thursday, January 21.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 61 patients with coronavirus have died within the Dorset County Hospital Trust.

Elsewhere in Dorset, 18 patients with coronavirus have died at the University Hospitals Dorset Trust in the same time period.

The trust, which was formed by a merger of the former Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has recorded 421 people have died in hospital with coronavirus.

One new coronavirus death has also been recorded at Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust.

NHS England figures show 44 people had died in hospital at Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust as of 5pm on Thursday (January 21).

The victims were among 3,095 deaths recorded across the South West.

Daily death counts are revised each day, with each case backdated to the actual date of death.

This means some of the deaths that were first recorded in the latest period may actually have taken place days earlier.

NHS England guidance states: "Confirmation of Covid-19 diagnosis, death notification and reporting in central figures can take up to several days and the hospitals providing the data are under significant operational pressure."

Only deaths that occur in hospitals where the patient has tested positive for Covid-19 are recorded, with deaths in the community excluded, such as those in care homes.