Two thousand people have now died in Norfolk's hospitals after testing positive for Covid-19, it has been confirmed.

The county passed the harrowing landmark two years to the day after it recorded its first coronavirus fatality.

Of the total deaths, the vast majority have been at the county's three main acute hospitals.

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital has seen 822 of its patients die with Covid, King's Lynn's Queen Elizabeth Hospital has had 570 deaths and 506 have occurred at the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston.

There have also been 96 people die at the region's community hospitals, while six Covid patients have died in mental health hospitals in the county.

The county's first coronavirus death - on March 17, 2020 at the QEH - came just six days before the country entered its first national lockdown. The 2,000th comes with the country operating without any restriction.

However, it comes against a backdrop of case numbers rising once again, after a downward trajectory in recent months.

In the last two weeks, case rates have started to increase, with almost 850 positive cases per 100,000 people in the county as of the end of last week.

Health leaders have said the rise in infections have been as a result of spread in the community stemming from lifting of restrictions - and that it was not unexpected.

However, the growth in cases has resulted in visiting restrictions across hospitals being extended.

And in an effort to further improve immunity, from Monday, March 21, people aged over 75 and the severely immunosuppressed will be able to make bookings for a fourth dose of the Covid vaccine - known as the spring booster.

Cath Byford, chief nurse at the Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group said: "This steep rise in cases reminds us of how important it is for everyone that is eligible for the vaccine to come forward and get it."