UNIVERSITY Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust were caring for 24 coronavirus patients in hospital as of Tuesday, figures show.

NHS England data shows the number of people being treated in hospital for Covid-19 by 8am on July 13 was up from 11 on the same day the previous week.

There were six beds occupied by Covid-19 patients four weeks ago in University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

Across England there were 2,970 people in hospital with Covid as of July 13, with 470 of them in mechanical ventilation beds.

Desmond Sunny said: "We still need to be cautious. I joked about having Covid and said I was going on holiday. In hindsight I was just being a bit of a fool. I know the rules are changing but we still need to protect people. Don't be an idiot like I once was."

Paul Barney said: "The number in hospital across Morecambe Bay trust was well over 220 in Jan/Feb so 24 is about one tenth of that figure."

Simon Middle said: "Tiny numbers. These will be patients who are in for other reasons who've tested positive and not admitted because of the virus.

Barry Lad said: "What about discharges?"

Colin Town said: "While these numbers are high for cases, the number of hospital admissions and deaths are actually going down yet we do all we can to ignore that fact and focus on how much we can frighten ourselves."

Gary Blums said: "Standby for food shortages, travel chaos and other disruptions."