THE two-week death toll among Covid-19 patients being treated by hospital trusts operating in Cumbria rose to 55, new figures show.

According to the latest NHS statistics, eight patients lost their lives in a single day at one trust.

The stark figures confirm hospital coronavirus deaths at the trust which runs The Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven. The trust involved - North Cumbria Integrated Care Foundation Trust has now reported 217 deaths.

In the 14 days up to November 26, there were 15 fatalities.

Seven of those were in the last week.

At the county's south Cumbria hospital trust, the situation has been more worrying.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, which runs Furness General Hospital, Westmorland General, and hospitals in Lancashire has reported 40 deaths over the last two weeks. The worst day for fatalities was November 25, when eight deaths were reported.

Meanwhile, as the country prepares to move from the national lockdown to the tier system of restrictions, the scale of infections locally has been unveiled.

Carlisle has seen the county's highest number of new infections over the last week - a total of 285 - a figure significantly affected by the outbreak at the city's Richard Rose Central Academy, where around 100 cases were diagnosed.

The figure has dropped steadily in recent days.

Since the pandemic began, the number of deaths in the Carlisle area has climbed to 119.

Next worst hit for infections over the last week has been South Lakeland, with 239.

That area has seen 118 deaths.

Allerdale has seen a weekly total of 97 new infections, while in Copeland the figure was 68.

In Barrow, the last week has seen 77 new infections and in Eden there were 50.

Thus far in Allerdale, there have been over the lifetime of the pandemic 86 deaths in Allerdale, 74 in Copeland, 46 in Eden, and 95 in Barrow.