GOVERNMENT figures show five people in South Somerset who had Covid-19 died in the latest weekly period.

Although the deaths between last Thursday (April 14) and today (Wednesday, April 20) are alarming, they represent a 58.3 per cent drop on the nine deaths on the previous seven days.

Over the latest seven-day period, 594 people in the district confirmed they had tested positive for the coronavirus, a drop of 17.5 per cent compared to the previous seven days.

The number of people in South Somerset who had been given a first dose of the Covid vaccination by Monday this week (April 18) was 141,833; 136,093 had received a second dose; and 114,471 had had a booster or third dose.

Between April 12 and 18, 1,311 in the South West went into hospital with coronavirus, a decrease of 17.7 per cent compared to the previous seven days.

There are 1,208 patients in hospital with coronavirus in the region today, 17 of whom are on a mechanical ventilator.