THE number of people being treated for coronavirus in East Lancashire’s hospitals has almost doubled.

Last week, doctors and nurses were caring for eight patients in Blackburn and Burnley’s hospitals - that number has since risen to 15.

There were six beds occupied by Covid-19 patients four weeks ago in East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Across England there were 765 people in hospital with Covid as of May 25, with 117 of them in mechanical ventilation beds.

The number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised nationally has decreased by 42 per cent in the last four weeks, while the number on mechanical ventilators has decreased by 40 per cent.

The figures also show that 24 new Covid patients were admitted to hospital in East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust in the week to May 23. This was down from 25 in the previous seven days.

As it stands, Blackburn with Darwen has the second-highest coronavirus infection rate in the country with a rate of 333.3 cases per 100,000 people.