EIGHT more patients with coronavirus have died at York NHS trust hospitals, taking it surging past the grim milestone of 300 deaths since the pandemic began.

NHS England said a total of 303 patients have now died at York Hospital and Scarborough Hospital after testing positive for Covid-19.

The number compares with 295 announced yesterday for the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The total number of Covid-19 related deaths at the trust stood at 214 for many weeks during the summer until numbers started to rise again as the pandemic second wave swept the region.

A trust spokeswoman said six of the latest fatalities were at Scarborough Hospital and two at York Hospital.