Two hundred patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 have now been discharged from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn.

There have been 126 deaths of people who tested positive for coronavirus at the QEH, with the most recent reported on May 7 and May 8.

But the hospital trust said it was confident that it had now passed the initial peak of the outbreak.

The milestone was welcomed by the hospital’s medical director Dr Frankie Swords who praised staff who have treated 390 confirmed cases in the past two months.

She said: “The pandemic’s full impact would not be known for some time but it is fantastic news that we have been able to discharge so many COVID-positive patients.

“The first peak is now behind us and, over the next few weeks, we are focusing on how best to reopen all of the services which have been affected by the pandemic.”

She said the hospital had been working tirelessly since March but that discharging 200 patients, was “be a real boost for staff”.

MORE: Five more coronavirus deaths in Norfolk’s hospitalsDr Swords said: “Data from both Public Health England and the Office for National Statistics suggest the number of cases in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk is among the highest in England.

“While our colleagues in public health are trying to establish the causes for this, we are focusing on caring for all our patients from West Norfolk and parts of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.”

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