Cumbria has suffered its worst week since the start of the pandemic for coronavirus deaths.

The latest data for the week ending January 22 show that 85 people died with coronavirus in Cumbria.

The tragic news comes as infection rates in the community continue to drop, but hospitals remain under intense pressure and new admissions continue to increase in the south of the county.

Cumbria's director of public health is urging people not to become complacent as infection numbers fall.

“Our biggest risk now is that we start to think this is all over, infections are falling, and we have the vaccination programme rolling out, said Colin Cox.

"These things are both true and good news. But we cannot let our guard down or we will once again see infections rocket.

“85 local people died from Covid-19 this week, our highest ever number. That is a tragedy and reflects the extremely high infection rate we’ve seen over the past six weeks.

"We really must not let ourselves slip back to that place. Please keep doing what you’re doing, stick to the lockdown rules and we can get infections down to a manageable level.”

The weekly COVID-19 situation report for Cumbria is available at www.cumbria.gov.uk/stopthespread. It shows:

  • There were 1,913 new Covid-19 cases in Cumbria (a decrease of 724, -27 per cent, from 2,637 cases in the previous week);
  • 85 Covid-19 related deaths were registered.
  • For the sixth week in a row Carlisle had the greatest number of new cases (+591 new cases);
  • Carlisle also had the highest rate of new cases for the fourth week in a row (544 new cases per 100k population);
  • Rates in Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness were above the national and regional average rates (England = 385 and North West = 410 new cases per 100k population);
  • New cases decreased from the previous week in all Cumbrian districts, with the smallest proportional decrease in Barrow (-16 per cent) and the biggest proportional decrease in Carlisle (-36 per cent);
  • The number of new patients admitted with Covid-19 positive status in North Cumbria Integrated Care (NCIC) decreased from the previous week (-28 per cent);
  • However, the number of new patients admitted with Covid-19 Positive status in University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMB) increased from the previous week (+113 per cent).