The number of Covid-19 patients across Barts Health NHS Trust hospitals has risen above 100 once again, latest figures show.

Confirmed cases among hospital in-patients had been steadily dropping between late August and early October and were as low as 85 on October 5.

But the trust’s latest figures, correct as of 8am on Wednesday (October 20), show that there are 109 patients with laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 across its five hospitals.

The news came on the day health secretary Sajid Javid warned the country that daily cases could rise to 100,000 as winter approaches, while lockdown restrictions could be reimposed.

East London Advertiser: Health Secretary Sajid Javid during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, on coronavirusHealth Secretary Sajid Javid during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, on coronavirus (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Barts Health runs The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel; Mile End Hospital; Newham Hospital; Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, which serves much of Redbridge; and St Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London.

Yesterday's figures nearly match the 111 Covid-19 inpatients recorded by the trust two months ago on September 23.

Of those with confirmed Covid-19, eight were newly diagnosed in the previous 24 hours, while 28 were being cared for in critical care beds or on enhanced levels of oxygen.

As of 5pm on Tuesday (October 19), a total of 1,964 patients hospitalised with confirmed Covid-19 had died at Barts Health hospitals, while over the same period, 19,449 had recovered and been discharged.