Six more people have now died at the Royal Bolton Hospital after contracting coronavirus.

Official figures released by the NHS showed one patient death from Saturday, two from Sunday, and three from Monday had all been linked to covid-19.

So far, 462 people have now died at the borough hospital after contracting the virus.

April saw the most coronavirus-related deaths, after 156 patients died with covid-19.

November is currently reporting the second-highest number of coronavirus deaths, at 91, whilst 84 patients have died with covid-19 during December.

Yesterday afternoon, government statistics confirmed 105 residents had tested positive for Covid-19.

So far, 17,079 people in Bolton have tested positive for Covid-19, with infections most prominent in the over 85s, those 45 to 54, and the 25 to 39-year-olds – with each age group reporting an infection rate of over 200 in the week up to December 25.

The infection rate is continuing to fluctuate, decreasing to 155.1 new cases per 100,000 people in the week to December 25, down slightly from 156.1 up to December 18.

Infections caused by the easing of restrictions over Christmas have not yet been seen within the figures, and are expected to push rates up.

The new variant of coronavirus has now been spotted in all areas of the UK.