Covid cases fall a third in Devon and Cornwall

But 73 people died

Coronavirus cases across Devon and Cornwall has fallen by a third in the past week, according to the latest statistics.

A total of 2,327 new cases were confirmed across the two counties - the lowest total for five weeks – with cases in Exeter and Plymouth declining more than 50 per cent. In the previous week, 3,521 people were confirmed with the disease. Total covid cases since the pandemic began now stands at 41,388 in the two counties.

Of cases in the week from 22 January, 1,005 were in Cornwall, 152 in East Devon, 110 in Exeter, 107 in Mid Devon, 51 in North Devon, 382 in Plymouth, 80 in South Hams, 137 in Teignbridge, 211 in Torbay, 30 in Torridge and 62 in West Devon..

Torridge is the area in England with the lowest infection rate (54/100,000), with North Devon second (67/100,000), East Devon fifth (111/100,000), South Hams sixth (114/100,000), Exeter eighth (126/100,000), with Mid Devon 12th (147/100,000), Teignbridge 13th (148/100,000), and West Devon 18th (158/100,000). Torbay’s infection rate is 168/100, with Cornwall’s at 176/100,000 and Plymouth’s at 208/100,000.

The latest positivity rates for tests carried out at 5.7% in Cornwall, 3.9% in East Devon, 4.9% in Exeter, 5.4% in Mid Devon, 2.3% in North Devon, 6.2% in Plymouth, 4.2% in South Hams, 4.7% in Teignbridge, 4.3% in Torbay, 1.5% in Torridge and 4.2% in West Devon. Every single area has seen positivity rates fall since last Friday.

As of Tuesday morning, 443 patients were in hospital across Devon and Cornwall following a positive covid test, up from 426 the previous week.

In total, as of Tuesday, there were 80 patients at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (down from 95 as of Jan 19), 55 at the Nightingale (up from 44), 42 at Torbay Hospital (up from 34), 112 in Derriford Hospital in Plymouth (up from 110), 8 at North Devon District Hospital (up from 7), and three in Devon Partnership NHS Trust units (down from 4) although not all patients are local given some have been transferred to the region from elsewhere. There were 143 patients in Cornwall (up from 111) as well.

There were 48 patients in mechanical ventilation beds, with 19 in Derriford, 13 in Cornwall, 10 at the Royal Devon and Exeter, and six in Torbay, up from 39 as of last Tuesday.

In the last week, there have been 73 deaths in Devon and Cornwall hospitals of patients within 28 days of a positive test: 28 at Derriford, 22 in Cornwall, 13 in Exeter, six in Torbay and four in North Devon.