Covid deaths in Devon more than halve in a week
The lowest weekly number of deaths relating to coronavirus across Devon and Cornwall in 2021 has been recorded – with the figure for Devon alone the lowest since the start of November.
The figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) which relate to the week of February 13 to 19, but registered up to February 27, show that 37 of the 375 deaths registered in the two counties had Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate.
The numbers have more than halved since last week when 81 were recorded, is the lowest single week total in 2021 so far, and the second lowest since the middle of November. The 16 deaths in Devon is the lowest total since the week ending November 6.
Of the 37 deaths registered in week 7 (Feb 13-19), there were 21 deaths of people from Cornwall, five from Plymouth, three from Mid Devon and Teignbridge, two from the South Hams, and one from Torbay, East Devon and Exeter. No deaths in the Isles of Scilly, North Devon, (for the second week running) Torridge or West Devon were registered
12 of deaths occurred in care homes, 24 in hospitals, with one at home.
The deaths were:
One death in a care home, one at home, and three in hospital of someone from Plymouth
One death in hospital of someone from Torbay
Eight deaths in a care home and 13 in hospital of someone from Cornwall
One death in a care home of someone in East Devon
One death in a care home of someone in Exeter
Three deaths in hospital of someone from Mid Devon
Two deaths in hospital of someone from South Hams
One death in a care home and two deaths in a hospital of someone from Teignbridge
A further six deaths from week 6 (Feb 6-12) have been added into the figures this week (4 in Cornwall, 2 in Plymouth) with one death from week 3 (Jan 16-22 in Teignbridge) added as well.
Previous weeks have seen 81, 100, 146, 151, 78, 55, 32, 46, 48, 52, 43, 43, 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, 1,613 deaths from coronavirus have been registered across Devon and Cornwall, with 894 in hospitals, 606 in care homes, 103 at home, three in a hospice, three in a communal establishment and four ‘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, 518 have been registered in Cornwall, 221 in Plymouth, 192 in East Devon, 156 in Torbay, 121 in Exeter, 121 in Teignbridge, 76 in Mid Devon, 70 in North Devon, 52 in Torridge, 50 in the South Hams, 36 in West Devon, and none on the Isles of Scilly.
So far in 2021, there have been 255 deaths in Cornwall, 82 in Plymouth, 68 in East Devon, 61 in Teignbridge, 48 in Exeter, 47 in Torbay, 28 in Mid Devon, 26 in South Hams, 14 in North Devon, 11 in Torridge and 8 in West Devon.
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 February 13 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.
There were 30 deaths in Devon and Cornwall’s hospitals within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test in the period between February 13 and 19 in the NHS England figures, six higher than the ONS figures.
While the two measurements do not compare exact like-for-like details, it means that at least six of the deaths in the NHS England figures were either of people from outside Devon and Cornwall, or while they had died after a positive Covid-19 test, it did not contribute to their death.