Covid drops in most of Devon

But cases jump in Exeter

Covid cases have fallen in every council area in Devon except Exeter.

The city's infection rate has risen by 27 per cent in the last seven days (to 29 July) making it the highest in the county, with 505 cases per 100,000 people, significantly higher than the national average of 280.

Rates in Torbay and Plymouth, previously highest in Devonm  have fallen by around a third in the latest week for which figures are available, to 396 and 455 per 100,000 respectively. Both are still above the national average but have continued to decline in the past couple of weeks.

Elsewhere in the county, North Devon experienced the biggest percentage drop in covid cases in the last seven days, down almost half to slightly above 260 per 100,000.

Covid infections in West Devon dropped more than a third (36 per cent), giving the district the lowest case rate in the south west (160 per 100,000). The number of new cases in Teignbridge and the South Hams also dropped more than a quarter.

The falls across the vast majority of Devon mirrors the national picture, where over the last seven days just over 20 per cent fewer people tested positive. However, the number of tests carried out is starting to fall.

HOSPITAL FIGURES

Despite covid cases falling in Devon, the number of people in hospital with the virus continues to rise slowly.

The latest figures (in the week to Tuesday 27 July) show 76 patients with the covid in Devon’s hospitals, up 24 from the previous week. But this remains some way below the number of patients being treated for covid during last winter’s peak.

Of those patients, 35 are at Derriford Hospital, 27 are at the RD&E, eight are in Torbay and six are being cared for in North Devon. Thirteen people are on mechanical ventilation beds.

DEATHS

A total of 1,056 people in Devon have died within 28 days of a positive test since the pandemic began. This includes 211 in Plymouth and 158 in Torbay. Across the UK, 129,881 people have died within four weeks of testing positive.

VACCINATIONS

The number of adults aged 18 or over who have received at least one dose of a vaccine is now 87 per cent in the Devon County Council area, 85 per cent in Torbay and 83 per cent in Plymouth.

The proportion of people who are now fully vaccinated with both jabs is now 73 per cent in Devon and Torbay, and 66 per cent in Plymouth.