MORE than a thousand Covid patients have been discharged from the trust which runs Colchester Hospital since the start of the pandemic, figures reveal.

NHS England’s latest coronavirus situation report shows the number of people who have been discharged from hospitals up to January 6.

Data from the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), which runs Colchester and Ipswich Hospital, showed 1,303 Covid patients have been discharged since March 2020.

Of those eight of them were aged between zero and five years old, and five were aged between six and 17.

A total of 357 were aged between 18 and 64 years old, and 364 were 85 years old or above.

The 65 to 84 year old category saw 587 Covid-19 patients discharged at the trust in the same timeframe.

Paul Godfrey is one of the patients to have been discharged from Colchester Hospital following a battle with coronavirus.

Mr Godfrey, from Frinton, beat pneumonia, collapsed lungs and Covid-19 at the hospital last spring.

The 32-year-old, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, had been battling a chest infection when he also developed symptoms of Covid-19.

After testing positive for Covid he was treated in the hospital’s intensive care unit and thankfully his condition improved.

Mr Godfreyspent two weeks being treated on a ward before being able to return home.

To thank the hospital staff he launched a fundraiser which raised more than £3,000.

The money will be used to renovate the ICU family and counselling room.

He said: “Colchester Hospital was amazing and saved my life there’s no doubt about it.

“Staff continue to still help me now with regular appointments with a ICU doctor, check ups to help with my long Covid which I’m suffering with nearly a year on. along with offering help anyway they can and helping with my recovery.”

Neill Moloney, the managing director of ESNEFT, said: “Our teams are working incredibly hard to care for all our patients, including those with coronavirus (Covid-19).

“We treat and discharge patients from our hospitals as soon as we safely can, and we wish them all the best for their ongoing recovery at home.”

Despite hundreds of Covid patients being discharged, the latest NHS figures show 526 Covid patients are being cared for at the trust.

The number of coronavirus deaths passed 900 in the latest 24-hour period, the latest official figures show.

NHS England figures show 911 people had died in hospital at the trust as of 5pm on Monday.

That was an increase of 17 compared to Sunday, when there were 894.

It means there have been 143 deaths in the past week, up from 107 the previous week.