A FURTHER two people died in hospitals covered by the Pennine Acute Trust over the weekend, bringing the total deaths in its hospital remit to 404.

The trust covers Fairfield Hospital in Bury, as well as other hospitals including Salford Royal and North Manchester General Hospital.

There has also now been 664 confirmed cases of the virus in Bury.

The chairman of Bury CCG, Dr Jeffrey Schryer, confirmed yesterday that he had tested negative for the virus following a scare.

He tweeted: "So my Covid test came back negative last night. Brilliant testing service in Bury.

"I celebrated by wine glass and watching 'Wild' again. Made me realise how much I miss walking. Should have finished my Pennine Way adventure this year. Time to start walking/ running / training again."

Just 122 new deaths were announced by NHS England today, although the reporting process may have been affected after the covid patient notification system failed for parts of Saturday, May 16.

As of 9am yesterday morning, 243,695 people had been diagnosed with coronavirus, with nearly 35,000 people across the country dying with the virus.