NEARLY 80 people have been discharged from The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals after contracting coronavirus.

The announcement comes as the RBCH NHS Foundation Trust moved to release hospital discharge figures in a weekly roundup.

One of the 78 patients discharged after contracting the virus was cardiac nurse Tracey Whitcher.

Ms Whitcher’s colleagues formed a special guard of honour for her as she left hospital.

Bournemouth Hospital tweeted: “We're delighted to have been able to discharge 78 patients now following coronavirus.

“And yesterday was particularly special, as our own cardiac nurse Tracey Whitcher made her way home after a spell in ITU and Ward 24. A special guard of honour for a very special lady.”

With the tweet was a video of Ms Whitcher leaving through the guard of honour.

The words accompanying the video said: “Yesterday we celebrated another successful discharge following treatment of Covid-19.

“(Tracey) found herself on the other side of care here last week.

“We’re thrilled to see her homeward bound, and naturally we celebrated with a proud guard of honour from colleagues.

“Thank you, team RBCH.”

Ms Whitcher waved to colleagues as she travelled through the hospital on a wheelchair

The discharges come as the number of positive coronavirus tests in the UK neared 110,000.

Director of Nursing at RBCH, Paula Shobbrook, said: “The NHS is here to care for patients and it is our privilege to do so through these challenging times.

“We see every day how the Covid-19 pandemic is having such a huge and sometimes devastating impact on peoples’ lives, which is why seeing our patients go home after being treated for coronavirus is a really special moment for all of us.

“We hope our community takes comfort in this and we want to thank everyone for supporting us by staying at home and helping us save lives.”