Coronavirus cases fall in Devon and Cornwall
That is according to figures from the last seven days, but it's not the case everywhere
The number of coronavirus cases confirmed across Devon and Cornwall has fallen in the previous seven days – but not everywhere.
A total of 3,521 new cases were confirmed across the two counties in the last week as the total for the two counties now stands at 39,061 – the third highest weekly figure.
By specimen date, only West Devon and Plymouth are not seeing a fall in cases, with the sharpest drops in Cornwall, East Devon, North Devon and Torridge.
Government statistics show that 3,521 new cases have been confirmed across the region in the past seven days in both pillar 1 data from tests carried out by the NHS and pillar 2 data from commercial partners, compared to 4,390 new cases confirmed last week.
Of the 3,521 cases confirmed since January 15, 1,229 are in Cornwall, with 221 in East Devon, 258 in Exeter, 127 in Mid Devon, 72 in North Devon, 794 in Plymouth, 147 in South Hams, 245 in Teignbridge, 278 in Torbay, 39 in Torridge and 111 in West Devon
This compares to the 4,390 cases confirmed between January 9 and 15, of which 1,651 were in Cornwall, with 345 in East Devon, 339 in Exeter, 170 in Mid Devon, 101 in North Devon, 801 in Plymouth, 160 in the South Hams, 333 in Teignbridge, 362 in Torbay, 62 in Torridge and 66 in West Devon.
A total of 2,647 of the cases confirmed in the past week have a specimen date between January 15 and 21, with 930 in Cornwall, 152 in East Devon, 184 in Exeter, 94 in Mid Devon, 52 in North Devon, 597 in Plymouth, 94 in South Hams, 187 in Teignbridge, 235 in Torbay, 30 in Torridge and 92 in West Devon.
The latest positivity rates for tests carried out at 7.1% in Cornwall, 6.1% in East Devon, 7.4% in Exeter, 5.5% in Mid Devon, 2.6% in North Devon, 8.4% in Plymouth, 5% in South Hams, 6% in Teignbridge, 5.5% in Torbay, 1.8% in Torridge and 4.4% in West Devon. All areas bar Plymouth and West Devon have seen positivity rates fall since last Friday.
As of Tuesday morning, there were 426 patients in hospital across Devon and Cornwall following a positive Covid-19 test, up from 350 as of last Tuesday.
There were 95 patients at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (down from 99 as of Jan 12), 44 at the Nightingale (up from 34), 34 at Torbay Hospital (up from 25), 110 in Derriford Hospital in Plymouth (up from 72), 7 at North Devon District Hospital (down from 9), and 136 in Cornwall (up from 111), although not all patients are local given some have been transferred to the region from elsewhere.
There were 40 patients in Mechanical Ventilation beds (up from 25), with 14 at Derriford Hospital, three at Torbay, eight at the RD&E, and 15 in Cornwall.
The figures show the amount of patients in hospital following a positive COVID-19 test who are currently occupying a bed.
But not every patient would necessarily have been admitted to hospital due to COVID-19, with a number of patients either contracting the virus inside the hospital, or being admitted for unrelated reasons but subsequently testing positive asymptotically when given routine tests.
And as a percentage of total acute beds available, 2% of beds in North Devon are occupied with Covid patients, 5% in Torbay, 10% in Cornwall, 12% in Plymouth, and 16% in Exeter, with only Derriford having seen a rise in the past week. North Devon and Torbay have the lowest percentage occupancy rates anywhere in England, while at a partnership level, Devon is the lowest with Cornwall second lowest.
In the last week, there have been 49 deaths within hospitals in Devon and Cornwall within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 death, with 21 in Exeter, 11 at Royal Cornwall Hospitals, seven in Plymouth, five at Cornish Partnership Trust Hospitals, three in Torbay and two in North Devon.