A NORTH-EAST hospital is appealing to residents to stick to Covid rules amid mounting pressure on the NHS as a new strain of Covid and a third wave of the virus takes hold.

As of Friday, December 25, there were 234 Covid patients admitted to North-East and Yorkshire hospitals, bringing the total number across the regions to 41,005.

As of Monday, December 28, there were 2,437 patients in hospital with 159 on ventilators.

Pressure on the NHS and the current and projected occupancy of hospitals are factored into the decision on whether areas move up or down tiered restrictions.

Deepak Dwarakanath, medical firector for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust urged residents to stick to current rules as "people are still dying".

He said: “Covid-19 remains a very serious illness for all members of the population, particularly older, frail and patients with the risks of diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.

"Despite the treatments learned from wave one and supportive therapies; patients are still dying of Covid.

"We must continue to safeguard one another. Our own trust has the equivalent of about 5.5 wards of patients who have tested positive for Covid-19. Our region continues to have high prevalence of the virus, and we are appealing to those communities to adhere to the guidance.”

Five of the seven NHS regions in England are currently reporting a record number of Covid-19 hospital patients: Eastern England, London, the Midlands, south-east England and south-west England.

The other two regions, North-East and North-West England, remain below peak levels that were set in mid-November.

Most Nightingale Hospitals, set up to ease Covid pressures on main hospitals, stand empty across the country.

It comes as a London A&E doctor has warned that the capital’s hospitals are very close to becoming overwhelmed if coronavirus infection rates are not brought under control.