Three more deaths from coronavirus announced at Preston and Chorley Hospitals as ‘R rate’ passes one in the North West

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has announced three more people have died from coronavirus at the hospitals it manages.

All three deaths happened at Royal Preston or Chorley Hospitals on Wednesday June 3.

It brings the total number of people to have died from the virus in Preston and South Ribble to 216.

The latest NHS death figures come as the government confirmed one more case of covid-19 was diagnosed in Preston in the last 24 hours.

The total number of confirmed cases in the city now stands at 451 – an infection rate of 318 per 100,000 people.

In South Ribble another two cases have been confirmed, with the total now being 259 – an infection rate of 236.1 per 100,000 people.

Chorley has seen two new cases confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 348. The infection rate is now 297.9 per 100,000 people.

Across Lancashire County Council’s area there are now 3,685 confirmed cases of coronavirus – an increase of 16 in the last 24 hours. The infection rate in Lancashire now stands at 304.5 per 100,000 of the county’s population.

The leader of Preston City Council, Cllr Matthew Brown, took to Twitter to express his concern at the current rates of infection in the North West.

The R number is the rate of infection, which indicates how infectious the virus is. The higher the R value, the more infectious the virus. It is the number used by the government and health officials to make decisions on the easing of lockdown.

Cllr Brown said: “I am very concerned the R rate is now over 1 in the north west of England for #COVIDー19. In #Preston we must all do what we can to keep people safe and ensure no more lives are lost and follow social distancing guidance.”