MORE than 500 people have now died in hospitals in the North-East and North Yorkshire after testing positive with the coronavirus.

The latest available figures from NHS England say 511 people have now died, an increase of 35 from yesterday.

A further eight people have died at hospitals run by County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust. 

At lunch time today, the Department for Health said as of 9am this morning, a total of 78,991 had now tested positive across England, Scotland and Wales.

As of 5pm on Friday, 9,875 people have died.

A spokesperson said: “As of 9am 11 April, 334,974 tests have concluded, with 18,091 tests on 10 April. 269,598 people have been tested of which 78,991 tested positive.

“As of 5pm on 10 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 9,875 have sadly died.”

There have been more than 100 cases reported in Darlington and almost 500 in County Durham.

The highest number of cases in the region has been reported in Newcastle, where 493 people have tested positive for the coronavirus, followed by County Durham, where 482 people have tested positive.

In England, there have been a further 823 deaths in hospitals.

The patients were aged between 11 and 102-years-old, and of those, 33 - aged as young as 29 - had no known underlying health condition.

Their families have been informed.

As of Saturday, April 11, the total number of patient deaths recorded by each trust are:

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust - 72

Gateshead Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - 42

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - 65

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust 20

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 79

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust - 130

Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 38

York Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 39

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust - 21

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Foundation Trust (mental health) - 3

Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (mental health) – 2

Total: 511

How many cases have been reported in each local authority area?

Newcastle – 493

Sunderland - 354

County Durham - 482

Darlington - 109

Hartlepool - 64

Redcar and Cleveland - 139

Stockton - 173

North Tyneside - 276

South Tyneside - 123

Gateshead - 247

Northumberland - 331

Middlesbrough - 235

York - 111

North Yorkshire - 390