More than 40 people have now died in care homes in Reading after contracting coronavirus, latest data has revealed.

There have been another ten coronavirus-related deaths in the past week in care homes, according to Care Quality Commission (CQC) figures.

This means there have now been a total of 44 Covid-19 related deaths in Reading care homes.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has not recorded any new deaths of Reading residents, in its own figures released today.

Its figures show there have been 54 Reading deaths in total since the start of the pandemic, with 12 happening in care homes.

This suggests 86 people from Reading have now died in total after testing positive for coronavirus.

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The reason CQC figures are higher is because they record death notifications from care home providers, which come quicker than the ONS figures that report death registrations.

Elsewhere, the latest figures from NHS England show 148 people have died under the care of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust after testing positive for the coronavirus, as of 5pm on Monday (May 4).

No deaths have been reported at Royal Berks in the last three days but there have been ten deaths reported in the last week at the hospital.

NHS England figures are also recorded differently to those from the ONS and CQC and relate only to patients who have died in hospitals after a positive test for coronavirus.

The statistics do not specify a cause of death and are recorded by trust rather than local authority.