MORE than 350 coronavirus patients who were being looked after by Leighton Hospital’s NHS trust have died since the start of the pandemic.

The number was sadly passed as Mid Cheshire Hospitals reported today, January 12, that four more of its Covid patients had died – taking the total to 352.

Two of the patients died on Sunday, January 10, while two died yesterday, January 11.

The trust has reported 23 deaths from coronavirus in the past week, up from 18 in the previous week.

Mid Cheshire Hospitals’ death toll has been rising over the past three months, since the NHS trust began grappling with the second wave of coronavirus.

There were 143 patients with Covid at Mid Cheshire Hospitals in the latest figures available from January 5, up from 106 on December 28.

Elsewhere in Cheshire, East Cheshire NHS Trust – including Macclesfield Hospital – reported its 219th death from Covid today.

The Countess of Chester’s death toll stands at 391, following the latest deaths to be reported yesterday.

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

Their families have been informed.