Derby and Burton's hospital chief says it is likely that there will be "significant numbers of Covid-19 patients in our hospitals for many months to come".

The UK's Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said we are past the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now health officials are working on how to avoid a second peak which, once lockdown measures are lifted, could be caused by thousands returning to work and school.

This may coincide with flu season when the NHS is always stretched to full capacity.

Gavin Boyle, chief executive of the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, has said that he expects the number of Covid-19 patients to remain significant for months.

He said: "Over the last week or so, the number of patients with COVID-19 in our hospitals has begun to fall.

"It's too early to lower our guard but this is surely a good sign. We've already started to think about how we can steadily and carefully reintroduce a greater range of services than we've been able to offer during the height of the epidemic.

"Whilst we have maintained our emergency response and some of our urgent services, others have needed to be put on hold until it is safe to restart.

"It is likely that we will continue to have significant numbers of Covid-19 patients in our hospitals for many months to come and we will need to work differently.

"We are making changes within our hospitals to ensure a separation between Covid-19 patients and those with other pressing health needs, so that they can be confident of being protected from the virus, should they need to come here.

"Many of the changes we've made in response to Covid-19 have actually been for the better and we'll want to keep them and build them into our new future.

"This won't all happen overnight and it'll need to be done in a cautious and measured way, but that process has now begun.

"I know that I can count on you all to help with our restoration as we now move into this next phase."

During flu season, our hospitals and health services are forced to find new ways to cope with a large influx of patients with respiratory illnesses – such as building pop-up wards in car parks.

The hospital trust has had more than 1,000 Covid-19 positive patients and, as of May 7, 406 patients with the virus have died at Derby and Burton hospitals.