Most regions of England now have more Covid-19 patients in hospital than at any point since mid to late March, latest figures show.

Two regions – south-west England and the combined area of north-east England and Yorkshire – are back to levels last seen more than four months ago.

For England as a whole, there are now 3,813 patients in hospital with Covid-19: the highest number since March 24.

The figures, from NHS England, show the growing impact of the third wave of coronavirus on hospital numbers – although patient levels are still well below the peaks seen during the second wave.

In North-east England and Yorkshire, 850 patients with Covid-19 were in hospital as of 8am on July 19.

This is the highest number for the area since March 17, and is just over a fifth of the number recorded at the peak of the second wave in January, according to analysis by the PA news agency.

North-west England currently has 800 Covid-19 patients, the highest since March 19 and just under a fifth of the second-wave peak.

The Midlands has 730 Covid-19 patients, the highest since March 27 and just over a 10th of its second-wave peak.

Other regions have lower number of patients, but all have reported a slow and steady increase in recent weeks.

London is the one region where levels have yet to reach those last seen in March, with 647 patients reported for July 19, the highest since April 2.

South-west England has the lowest number of any region, 228, but this is the highest since March 15.

Eastern England has 242 patients while south-east England has 316 – in both regions, the highest number since March 30.

Separate figures show the number of Covid-19 patients in the whole of the UK stood at 4,094 as of July 16: the highest since March 29.