ANOTHER 33 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus at the trust which runs Colchester Hospital. It is one of the highest daily increases in the number of Covid deaths at the East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) since the start of the pandemic. Another grim milestone has also been passed at ESNEFT as of yesterday with a total of 801 Covid patients having now died at Colchester and Ipswich hospitals. Less than a month ago on Christmas Day the total number of deaths at the trust was 517. The trust does not release specific figures for how many deaths took place at each hospital.
A total of 18 Army personnel are helping with the rollout at Southend Hospital. The hospital recently started offering the vaccine to the virus, following on from Basildon Hospital giving out the first doses before Christmas. Broomfield Hospital also started to offer vaccines last week in Chelmsford. A British Army spokesman said: “A small team from the military’s Vaccines Quick Reaction Force is working to support the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine at Southend Hospital. “The force is made up of medically trained personnel who have been requested to work alongside the hospital’s clinical staff on a short-term basis to bolster its capacity.”