THE number of Covid-related deaths at Herefordshire's hospitals appears to be rising, latest NHS figures show.

NHS data showed 10 people died in November at the Wye Valley NHS Trust, which runs Hereford County Hospital, after testing positive for Covid-19.

That was up from nine in October and six in both August and September. There were no deaths reported in May or June, and just two in both July and April.

But at the start of the year, 82 were reported in January, 34 in February and five in March.

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It took the death toll at the trust, as of 4pm on December 11, to 261.

At the November 4 Wye Valley NHS Trust board meeting, managing director Glen Burley said that the trust was "under significant pressure from Covid".

There were 39 Covid patients at the time, and while that number has dropped to 21 since, it was "higher than in the first wave".

He said the majority of inpatients with Covid had either had no vaccine or just their first dose.

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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.