Staff at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust are caring for 56 coronavirus patients in hospital.

NHS England data shows the number of people being treated in hospital for Covid-19 by 8am on June 15 was up from 30 on the same day the previous week.

There were eight beds occupied by Covid-19 patients four weeks ago in East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Across England there were 1,030 people in hospital with Covid as of June 15, with 187 of them in mechanical ventilation beds.

The number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised nationally has increased by 38 per cent in the last four weeks, while the number on mechanical ventilators has increased by 64 per cent.

Meanwhile in facilities operated by the Lancashire and South Cumbria Trust there were five coronavirus patients being cared for over on the same date.

That number was up from two on the same day the previous week - four weeks ago, no beds were occupied by covid-19 patients within the trust.

When it comes to new cases, the number of recorded infections in Blackburn with Darwen increased by 124 in the 24 hours to Friday.

Public Health England figures show that, since the start of the pandemic, 21,945 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 by 9am on Friday (June 18) in Blackburn with Darwen, up from 21,821 the same time on Thursday.

Infections in Blackburn with Darwen, since the start of the pandemic, now stand at 14,660 cases per 100,000 people, far higher than the England average of 7,142.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 10,270 over the period, to 4,610,893.