A member of staff at Weston General Hospital has died of coronavirus.

A spokesman for the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust paid tribute to Amarante Dias – a ‘much-loved’ colleague.

Dr William Oldfield, medical director at the trust, said: “We are deeply saddened at losing Amarante Dias who was such a valued and much-loved colleague.

“On behalf of everyone at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, including our patients and the communities we serve, I would like to offer my sincerest condolences to his family.

“Amarante will be greatly missed and we are ensuring that staff have access to support to help them at this difficult time.

“We will not be commenting further and ask that everybody respects the privacy of the family at their request.”

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in North Somerset is 115, according to Public Health England figures yesterday (Monday).

However, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released today shows that as of April 3, the government tally includes just two-thirds of the people who actually died of Covid-19.

ONS figures show there were 6,235 deaths which involved coronavirus up to April 3 (registered up to April 11) in England and Wales compared to the figure of 4,093 in hospitals at the same stage.

The government total announced every day only includes deaths in hospitals, and refer to deaths reported to that date, when the death may have happened days or weeks earlier.

Nick Stripe, head of health analysis and life events at the ONS said: “The latest comparable data for deaths involving Covid-19 with a date of death up to April 3, show there were 6,235 deaths in England and Wales.

“When looking at data for England, this is 15 per cent higher than the NHS numbers as they include all mentions of Covid-19 on the death certificate, including suspected COVID-19, as well as deaths in the community.

“The 16,387 deaths that were registered in England and Wales during the week ending April 3 is the highest weekly total since we started compiling weekly deaths data in 2005.”