THE number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Northumberland has risen above 4,000.

The latest figures from Public Health England showed that there have now been 4,067 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the county - an increase of 98 on yesterday's figure of 3,969.

Sadly, a further four people have died at Northumbria Healthcare hospitals after testing positive for the virus.

New data from NHS England confirmed that the total death toll from the virus at the trust's hospitals now stands at 236, up from 232 yesterday. Thirteen people have died at Northumbria hospitals in the last five days.

However, figures from Northumberland County Council showed that the rate of positive cases per 100,000 residents in the county dropped in the week beginning October 5 - the first time the rate has fallen since the last week of August.

185.78 cases per 100,000 residents were confirmed that week, while that figure has now fallen again to 168.9 cases per 100,000 in the last seven days. 

541 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the county over the past week, with Ponteland East and Stannington ward seeing the most confirmed cases in the Hexham Constituency.

16 cases were confirmed in the ward, followed by Ponteland West with 11 cases and then Prudhoe North with 10 cases.

Nationally, Public Health England confirmed that 15,650 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed yesterday, bringing the total number of lab-confirmed cases across the UK to 689,257.

A further 136 people died after testing positive for the virus, bringing the total death toll to 43,429. 

57,690 people have had COVID-19 on their death certificate.

5,311 people are currently being treated in hospital for the virus, with 580 of those on ventilator beds. 844 people were admitted to hospital yesterday.