Number of Covid-19 patients in Blackpool Victoria Hospital drops from five to one - but two more die from the disease

Medical director Dr Jim Gardner said that figure was "pleasing", but that he was "sorry to say" two people have died after testing positive for the coronavirus in the past week.

It takes the death toll at the Whinney Heys Road hospital to 245.

And he said that the resort's infection rate is growing, with 17 people per every 100,000 now testing positive, above the national average and higher than the 10 per 100,000 noted last week.

"It's a significant issue and the worry is we are on some kind of curve which is going to keep going up," Dr Gardner said.

"The national data shows that most of those infections are in a younger population who may be asymptomatic or only have very mild symptoms.

"And so we are not seeing that yet transfer into increased hospital activity.

"But in other countries - in France and Germany for example - there has been an increase in the number of patients going into hospital.

"So our worry is this higher level of background infection may lead to increases in hospital activity and people being really poorly a few weeks down the line, which is why we all need to be so vigilant and maintain our activity around wearing masks in public, around social distancing of two metres wherever possible, and of good hand hygiene."

Dr Gardner, who was giving a weekly coronavirus briefing at the hospital, said the hospital had relaxed its visitor policy so inpatients can all have one visitor per day.Yesterday, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned of a possible second peak of coronavirus following a “concerning” rise in the number of cases.

A recent spike in cases across the country should be a reminder that the virus “remains a threat”, he said.

“This is not over,” he told the House of Commons.

“Just because we have come through one peak doesn’t mean we can’t see another one coming towards our shores.”

England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, has also warned that if people stop social distancing then “Covid comes back”.

It came after a senior official at NHS Test and Trace issued an apology to people unable to get a Covid-19 test.

Director of testing Sarah-Jane Marsh said there is capacity at testing sites but laboratories processing the tests are at a “critical pinch-point”.

There have been reports of people being told there are no appointments available at test centres in England and that there are no home tests kits available to send out.