The number of Covid cases in Babergh, and the rest of Suffolk, continue to drop but hospital deaths in the hospital trust that covers the Hadleigh area are approaching 900.

Confirmed cases in Babergh have dropped for the third week running, with 251 cases reported in the seven days up to Sunday January 24, the lowest in Suffolk, and the district is ranked 261st lowest out of 315 areas in total.

However, a further 21 patients have died after testing positive for coronavirus at the trust which runs Ipswich and Colchester hospitals.

The latest NHS England figures published on Monday show 21 new deaths at the East Suffolk and North Essex Trust.

Since the pandemic began a year ago, a total of 894 patients have now died with Covid at the trust.

Vaccine centres are now up and running, with Hadleigh and East Bergholt practices among those dealing with hundreds of patients each week on an appointment only basis.

The first dose of vaccination has now been administered to all care homes in Suffolk where it has been safe to do so. For the small number of cases where residents or staff were not able to be vaccinated at the point in time the team attended, or due to safety restrictions, the team will return to vaccinate them at the earliest possible opportunity.

The vaccination roll-out is being overseen by Suffolk CCGs.