Devon covid cases falling

Except in Torbay and Torridge

Covid cases continue to fall across much of Devon but have risen in Torbay and Torridge.

Government figures for the week to Thursday 9 September show infections dropped by 14 per cent in the Devon County Council area and 10 per cent Plymouth, but that Torbay’s rate is up six per cent.

Plymouth and Torbay’s infection rates of 396 and 388 cases per 100,000 people are above the UK average of 374. Devon’s is lower at 302.

Of the county’s district areas, Torridge recorded the only rise, with cases going up by a fifth. However, the area’s infection rate remains below the national average at 346.

Elsewhere, East and West Devon had the biggest drop – each down by around a third on last week’s figure. Infections across the South Hams, Teignbridge and Mid Devon also fell by just under 20 per cent.

The highest district infection rate in the county is North Devon, where the number of infections recorded (364) was identical to last week.

Many parts of Devon are now below the national average – a significant improvement to just over a fortnight ago when the south west was designated as an ‘enhanced response area’ to help combat weeks of rising infections coinciding with the tourist season and the Boardmasters music festival in Cornwall.

However, some experts believe the recent return of children to school could yet see another increase, like that seen in Scotland at the end of August.

HOSPITALISATIONS

The recent drop in infections has also led to a slight reduction in the number of people being treated for covid in Devon’s hospitals, with the figure down by 11 on last week.

Latest figures for Tuesday 7 September show 135 covid patients in the county’s hospitals, 56 of which are at Derriford in Plymouth, 45 at the RD&E, 18 in Torbay and 16 in North Devon. Of the total number of patients, 17 are in mechanical ventilation beds.

DEATHS

Twenty-eight more people died in the county within 28 days of testing positive for covid in the latest complete seven-day period (up to and including Thursday 9 September). Seventeen were in the Devon County Council area, 10 in Plymouth and one in Torbay.

A total of 1,177 people in Devon (including Plymouth and Torbay) have died within 28 days of a positive test since the pandemic began.

VACCINATIONS

Government figures for vaccinations now include people aged 16 and over.

The number of people 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 84 per cent in Plymouth.

The proportion of people who are now fully vaccinated with both jabs is now 81 per cent in Devon, 78 per cent in Torbay and 76 per cent in Plymouth.