A coroner has concluded a pensioner who passed away in a care home after testing positive for coronavirus died of natural causes.

Residents in the Norfolk Lodge home on King's Lynn Road, Hunstanton, were tested as part of mass screening being carried out on care home residents on June 1.

David Lefever, 77, was found to be positive on June 3, an inquest into his death which was held in Norwich heard on Monday.

Jacqueline Lake, senior coroner for Norfolk, said there was no evidence regarding where Mr Lefever contracted the virus.

The court heard the retired chief executive officer had lived at Norfolk Lodge since May 3, 2019. He had suffered a number of health problems including obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Summing up Mrs Lake said Mr Lefever had a sore on his face which he would pick at. She said by May of this year he had lost a considerable amount of weight and his carers had become concerned about the lump on his face, which by now had been diagnosed as a malignant lesion.

On May 26, Mr Lefever was prescribed antibiotics by his GP after the lump became infected.

The coroner said that on June 16, maggots were seen in Mr Lefever's tumour. These were removed and the wound was cleaned.

Mr Lefever's condition continue to deteriorate. Nurses were by this time attending him daily and a syringe driver was set up on June 21 to assist with pain relief. Mr Lefever died at the home on June 25.

Mrs Lake said a post mortem gave his cause of death as bronchopneumonia, with contributory factors of Covid-19, a facial tumour and type 2 diabetes.

"These are natural causes of death," she added. "My conclusion is death due to natural causes."

Mrs Lake said Mr Lefever's health had deteriorated during the pandemic, which made it difficult for his family to see him.

She did not find there was any neglect on the part of the care home.