Doctors working at Barts Health Trust hospitals are now treating nearly three times as many Covid patients compared to a month ago.

Running hospitals in Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest, Barts said its doctors were treating 37 inpatients who have the virus on Tuesday (June 29).

This includes four who were diagnosed in the previous 24 hours and seven who are being cared for in intensive care on enhanced levels of oxygen.

At this time in May, it had 13 inpatients across its five hospitals who had tested positive for the virus, while two people were in critical care.

The Delta coronavirus variant, first identified in India, is now responsible for more than 95 per cent of infections in the UK.

New health secretary Sajid Javid said the UK must “learn to live” with Covid as he confirmed the government’s plan to ease all lockdown restrictions on July 19.

In a House of Commons statement, he said: “No date we choose comes with zero risk….We cannot eliminate it, instead, we have to learn to live with it.”

Barts Health Trust includes St Bartholomew's, The Royal London, Mile End, Whipps Cross, and Newham hospitals.