THERE were an additional 279 positive Covid cases in the North East and North Yorkshire.

A further 35 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 85,765, NHS England said on Sunday.

Patients were aged between 37 and 98 and all except two, aged 37 and 88, had known underlying health conditions.

The deaths were between May 18 and March 20.

There were 20 other deaths reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.

A record 756,873 Covid jabs were recorded in England on Saturday at the end of a week which saw the highest number of doses delivered since the vaccination programme began, NHS England said.

Here is a breakdown of the number of confirmed Covid cases recorded across the region:

County Durham: 37,122 was 37,084

Darlington: 7,277 was 7,261

Gateshead: 13,499 was 13,489

Hartlepool: 8,659 was 8,648 

Middlesbrough: 12,216 was 12,205

Newcastle: 22,964 was 22,948

North Tyneside: 12,149 was 12,132

North Yorkshire: 28,902 was 28,864

Northumberland: 17,066 was 17,042

Redcar and Cleveland: 9,144 was 9,136

South Tyneside: 11,180 was 11,166

Stockton-on-Tees: 15,374 was 15,335

Sunderland: 21,636 was 21,608

York: 12,116 was 12,107

Total increase: 279