Small rise in number of Covid-19 deaths recorded across Devon and Cornwall
The latest figures have been released
The number of deaths registered across Devon and Cornwall where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate in the last week has risen slightly.
The figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), relate to the week of December 5 to December 11, but registered up to December 19th, show that 41 of the 366 deaths registered in the two counties had Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate.
The previous week saw 38 of the 346 deaths registered in the two counties had Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate.
Due to the average lag between infections and deaths, the majority of the deaths resulted from infections caught during the second national lockdown.
There were 13 deaths of people in East Devon, seven in Exeter, four in Cornwall and North Devon, three in Mid Devon, two in Plymouth, South Hams, West Devon and Torridge, and one in Torbay and Teignbridge.
Of the 41 deaths registered in week 50 (Dec 5-11), 14 occurred in care homes, 26 in hospitals, and one in a ‘communal establishment’.
The deaths were:
One care home death and one hospital death of someone from Plymouth
One care home of someone from Torbay
Two care home deaths and two hospital deaths of people from Cornwall
Four care home deaths, eight hospital deaths and one death in a communal establishment of someone from East Devon
Three care home deaths and four hospital deaths of people from Exeter
Three hospital deaths of someone from Mid Devon
One care home death and three hospital deaths of someone from North Devon
One care home death and one hospital death of someone from the South Hams
One hospital death of someone from Teignbridge
Two hospital deaths of people from Torridge
One care home death and one hospital death of someone from West Devon
A further two deaths – one in Plymouth in hospital and one from a care home in Torbay from week 49 were backdated into the statistics this week.
The Isles of Scilly has still yet to see a COVID-19 related death.
Previous weeks have seen 40, 42, 37, 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.
In total, 822 deaths from coronavirus have been registered across Devon and Cornwall, with 476 in hospitals, 282 in care homes, 59 at home, one in a hospice, three in a communal establishment and one ‘elsewhere’.
Other communal establishments, as defined by the ONS, include defence bases, educational premises, prisons (including probation/bail hostel, prisons, detention centres and other detention), hotels, hostels, travel and temporary accommodation (including B&Bs, temporary shelter for homeless and holiday parks), and religious premises.
The ONS define elsewhere as all places not covered by the other definitions, such as deaths on a motorway, at the beach, climbing a mountain, walking down the street, at the cinema, at a football match, while out shopping or in someone else’s home.
Of the deaths, 242 have been registered in Cornwall, 135 in Plymouth, 104 in Torbay, 80 in East Devon, 60 in Exeter, 50 in Teignbridge, 40 in North Devon, 30 in Torridge, 30 in Mid Devon, 25 in West Devon, 24 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 December 11 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.