THREE more people have died while under the care of St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

There have now been six deaths of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 recorded by trust, according to figures released by NHS England.

Two patients died on March 28 while one died the following day on March 29.

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Their families have been informed.

The news comes just a day after the trust, which runs Whiston, St Helens and Newton hospitals, recorded its first deaths linked to the coronavirus.

These patients passed away on March 22, 27 and 28.

Across England, a further 486 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths to 2,137.

Patients were aged between 13 and 99 years old, with 20 of the 486 patients having no known underlying health condition.

St Helens Star: Whiston Hospital Whiston Hospital

The daily update comprises of the number of deaths reported and verified by trusts in England in the 24 hours prior to 5pm the previous day.

This means there can be a time lapse from the day the patient dies to when it is actually recorded and then reported.

Earlier today, the Department for Health and Social Care said as of 9am on April 1, a total of 152,979 people across the UK had been tested.

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Out of these, 29,474 tested positive for COVID-19.

As of 5pm on March 31, of those treated in hospital in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 2,352 had died.

This is an increase of 563 from the 1,789 deaths reported the day before and is the biggest single daily increase so far.