Covid deaths in Devon lowest for six months
Just one death was recorded in the county from 27 March - 2 April
There was just one death in Devon linked to Covid-19 in the most recently weekly total – the lowest total for more than six months.
The figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) which relate to the week of March 27 to April 2, but registered up to April 10, show that four of the 289 deaths registered in the Devon and Cornwall had Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate – with one in Mid Devon and three in Cornwall.
It is the lowest weekly total for the two counties since the week ending October 2 when there were two deaths registered – and the one death in Devon is the lowest since the week ending September 25 – the last week when no deaths were recorded.
Of the four deaths registered in week 13 (March 27-April 2), there was one death of someone from Mid Devon in a hospital, and three deaths of people from Cornwall – one in a hospital, one in a care home, and one in a hospice.
No deaths so far been registered in the Isles of Scilly, and there were no deaths in East Devon, South Hams, Torbay or Plymouth, in Exeter and Torridge (for the 2nd week running), Teignbridge (for the 5th week running), West Devon (for the 7th week running) and North Devon (for the 8th week running) were registered.
Two backdated deaths in Plymouth were also added to the dataset this week – one in a care home in week 12 (March 20-26) and one in a hospital from week 8 (Feb 20-26).
Previous weeks have seen 6, 9, 12, 22, 44, 47, 84, 99, 146, 152, 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, 1,724 deaths from coronavirus have been registered across Devon and Cornwall, with 949 in hospitals, 653 in care homes, 110 at home, five 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, 570 have been registered in Cornwall, 233 in Plymouth, 204 in East Devon, 167 in Torbay, 127 in Teignbridge, 127 in Exeter, 82 in Mid Devon, 71 in North Devon, 55 in Torridge, 51 in the South Hams, 37 in West Devon, and none on the Isles of Scilly.
So far in 2021, there have been 308 deaths in Cornwall, 94 in Plymouth, 80 in East Devon, 67 in Teignbridge, 58 in Torbay, 54 in Exeter, 35 in Mid Devon, 27 in South Hams, 14 in North Devon, 14 in Torridge and 9 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 since April 2 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.