One in six south west care homes have Covid

Data has shortcomings, but is best we have

Coronavirus outbreaks have been confirmed or suspected at one in six care homes across Devon and Cornwall.

Latest Public Health England figures show that 117 suspected or confirmed outbreaks of COVID-19 at care homes across the region have been reported. Care homes are only be included in the dataset once, and if they have reported more than one outbreak, only the first is included in this dataset.

This data contains no indication of whether the reported outbreaks are still active, and each weekly total refers to reports in the period Tuesday to the following Monday.

No information about deaths in care homes is provided in the dataset, although ONS information published on Tuesday showed that 68 deaths had occurred in care homes up until April 17.

The PHE data shows that up until Monday, April 27, outbreaks of coronavirus had been recorded in 117 of the 739 care homes in Devon and Cornwall, with the highest percentage being in West Devon, in 28 per cent of its homes, with the lowest in Mid Devon, at just 9.4 per cent. No cases have been confirmed in the Isles of Scilly.

There have been 12 outbreaks in Torbay (14 per cent), with a further 10 in Teignbridge (13.7 per cent), seven in East Devon and West Devon (9.6 per cent and 28 per cent), six in Exeter and North Devon (17.1 per cent and 18.8 per cent), four in the South Hams (13.8 per cent), and three in Mid Devon and Torridge (9.1 per cent and 9.4 per cent). Of the 117 outbreaks, 29 were reported to Public Health England since last Tuesday, including three of the four so far in the South Hams. No outbreaks were reported in Exeter.