THE number of Covid patients at York and Scarborough hospitals has fallen to a third of its peak last month - and two more Covid wards have shut.

York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said today that it was currently treating 80 confirmed and suspected Covid-19 inpatients Trust-wide.

That compares with a peak of 242 on January 26, at the height of York's coronavirus crisis.

However, 11 Covid patients were still being treated in intensive care.

The trust said a total of 1,968 Covid patients had been discharged since the start of the pandemic, or were no longer being treated as having Covid.

A spokeswoman added that York Hospital now had three wards dedicated to patients with Covid. This is down from five last week and from seven at the peak of the crisis.