THE number of people to die in Cornish hospitals due to coronavirus has risen for the first time in nine days.

Wednesday's update from NHS England shows that the total for Cornwall now stands at 87, an increase of one since yesterday and the first time the total has risen since Monday, May 18.

The death was recorded at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, where 61 people have now lost their lives.

The total at hospitals under the Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust remains at 26.

The numbers only cover deaths in hospitals.

Yesterday, the latest update from the Office for National Statistics showed that the overall number of deaths in Cornwall, in hospitals, care homes and other settings in the community, had risen to a minimum of 190 from 174 a week previous.

Across England, a further 183 people who tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19) have been registered as having died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 26,049.

Patients were aged between 43 and 101 years old. Two of those, aged 81 and 91, had no known underlying health condition, NHS England said.

Their families have been informed.

In the south west as a whole a further seven deaths were recorded.

There have been 573 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to date.