Almost a third of people who have died after testing positive for in English hospitals had diabetes, new NHS England research suggests.
This is higher than previously thought, as health service data released last week suggested 26% of Covid-19 victims in English hospitals had the condition.
The new figures show that overall, 7,466 of coronavirus patients who have died in hospitals in England had type 2 diabetes.
A further 365 who died had type 1 diabetes.
This is approximately 32% of the 24,739 Covid-19 deaths recorded in English hospitals up to May 17.
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Figures released on May 14 suggested that 5,873 diabetes patients had died with Covid-19 out of 22,332 at that time.
Lead author of the study, Professor Jonathan Valabhji called the finding “worrying news” and said it “shows the extent of the risk of coronavirus for people with diabetes”.
He added: “Importantly it also shows that higher blood glucose levels and obesity further increase the risk in both types of diabetes.”
Read More: Almost a third of patients to die with Covid-19 had diabetes – NHS England
