East Devon care home suffers covid outbreak

Causes overall figures in East Devon to rise

A recent rise in covid in East Devon is localised in the Sidbury, Offwell and Beer area, and primarily in the over 85s.

Infection rates in East Devon rose from a low of 35 per 100,000, the lowest since the end of September, on Saturday, to 46 per100,000 on Sunday, when cases recorded on 2 March were added to the figures.

The rise is entirely down to what appears to be an outbreak in a care home in the Sidbury, Offwell and Beer area, with the area reporting 34 cases in the week between up to 2 March – with 29 of them coming on that date itself.

Infection rates in the oldest age groups also rose, going from 187 per 100,000 on Saturday to 562 per 100,000 on Sunday in the over 90s, and from 118 per 100,000 to 380 per 100,000 in the 85-89s, with smaller rises also seen in the 80-84s and 75-79s.

The numbers are likely to be statistically skewed. It's unlikely, for example, that 100,000 people in East Devon are aged over 90.

However, a care home in the area is the most likely explanation for the rise.

A spokesman for Public Health Devon said: “There is currently a rise in new cases in the Sidbury, Offwell and Beer area of East Devon, and the majority of them are linked to a single setting.  We and Public Health England are working closely with that setting to ensure that all reasonable  measures are in place and appropriate action is taken to ensure everyone’s ongoing safety, and to prevent spread of infections.  Controls are in place and there is no current evidence of wider community spread.”

However, despite the slight spike in cases in East Devon, the district’s infection rate is still in the bottom third in England, sitting 207th of the 315 local authority area.

Across the rest of Devon, Exeter has the 279th highest infection rate, Mid Devon 292nd lowest, Torbay 298th, Teignbridge 305th, Torridge 309th, West Devon 313th, North Devon 314th and South Hams 315th and the lowest in England.

At an upper tier level, only the Isle of Wight and Cornwall have a lowest infection rate than Devon, with the 22.4/100,000 the lowest since the end of September.

In the week leading up to 2 March in Devon, only one person aged 65-69 tested positive for covid-19.