Seven Covid-related deaths recorded in Cornish hospitals in latest weekly figures
34 coronavirus deaths were registered across the Duchy and Devon combined
Every district of Devon and Cornwall has registered a death for the first time since mid-April – and it’s the highest number of deaths in the two counties since mid-May.
The figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), relate to the week of November 14 to November 20, but registered up to November 28, show that 34 of the 402 deaths registered in the two counties had Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate.
Last week saw 24 of the 344 deaths registered in the two counties have Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate.
It is the highest weekly total recorded since the week of May 9-15 across the two counties, and every single region recorded a new death for the first time since the week of April 11-17.
The deaths will almost certainly have resulted from infection contracted prior to the introduction to the second national lockdown, given the average time lag between infection and death.
Of the 34 deaths registered in week 47 (Nov 14-20), there were:
• seven deaths of people from Plymouth in a hospital and one in a care home
• one death of someone in a care home in Torbay
• seven deaths of people from Cornwall in hospital
• three deaths of Teignbridge residents in hospital,
• two hospital deaths of East Devon residents
• two hospital deaths of Exeter residents
• two hospital deaths of South Hams residents
• two hospital deaths of West Devon residents
• one hospital death of someone from Mid Devon
• two hospital deaths and one in a care home in North Devon
• two hospital deaths and someone at home from Torridge.
It was the first time in four weeks that a death of someone from North Devon has been registered, while the Isles of Scilly has still yet to see a COVID-19 related death
Previous weeks have seen 24, 11, 13, 15, 6, 5, 2, 0, 3, 1, 2, 0, 1, 2, 1, 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 5, 1, 7, 10, 11, 15, 38, 44, 70, 85, 107, 90, 60, 16 and nine deaths registered, with no additional backdated deaths recorded this week.
In total, 696 deaths from coronavirus have been registered across Devon and Cornwall, with 393 in hospitals, 248 in care homes, 53 at home, one in a hospice, and one in a communal establishment.
Of the deaths, 227 have been registered in Cornwall, 118 in Plymouth, 88 in Torbay, 56 in East Devon, 44 in Teignbridge, 42 in Exeter, 30 in North Devon, 27 in Torridge, 23 in Mid Devon, 22 in West Devon, 19 in the South Hams and none on the Isles of Scilly.
The figures show in which local authority the deceased’s usual place of residence was. For instance, if someone may have died in Derriford Hospital but lived in West Devon, while the death may have been registered in Plymouth, their death would be recorded in the mortality statistics for the ONS figures against West Devon.
Deaths that have occurred in hospitals following a positive coronavirus test since November 20 will be recorded in next week’s figures, as long as the deceased lived within Devon and Cornwall, the death has been registered, and COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.