The number of coronavirus cases confirmed across Devon has doubled in the past week – but has nearly halved in Cornwall.
Government statistics show that 42 new cases have been confirmed across the region in the past seven days in both pillar 1 data from tests carried out by the NHS and pillar 2 data from commercial partners, compared to 34 new cases confirmed last week.
It means that an average of six cases a day are being confirmed across the two counties, with 32 of the 42 cases having a specimen date having a specimen date from August 14 to August 21, and the other ten dating back to August 10.
The number of confirmed cases in Cornwall over the last week has dropped from 14 to eight, while the same number of cases, seven, were recorded in Plymouth – of which four were in the Honicknowle & Manadon area.
Across the whole of the South West, 230 cases have so far been confirmed for the previous seven day period, with 68 of them in Swindon, which despite media reports of facing a ‘local lockdown’, has seen the number of new cases decrease in the past week.
The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in the South West has fallen in the previous week, dropping down to 17 from 18, with there being just one person in intensive care.
This week saw three hospital deaths in the South West – but the last death in a hospital in Devon and Cornwall occurred on June 29 – and for the second week in a row, no deaths were recorded in Devon in the ONS statistics.
A spokesperson for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust has said that the Trust had ’prepared for the worst’ following the start of the summer holidays and the arrival of visitors to Cornwall but that the numbers had not been anywhere like as high as had been feared.
The large geographical area of the South West, and the low case numbers overall, mean that the R Rate for the region – estimated between 0.8 and 1.1 – is insufficiently robust to inform policy decisions.
Torridge remains the place in England with the lowest overall positivity rate, and is 3rd in the overall table behind Na h-Eileanan Siar (Outer Hebrides) and the Orkney Islands.
Including Scotland and Wales as well, the South Hams is 7th, North Devon 9th, West Devon 10th, Teignbridge 13th, East Devon 14th, Cornwall 15th, Exeter 21st, Torbay 27th, Mid Devon 48th and Plymouth 51st of the 369 regions
COVID-19 cases are identified by taking specimens from people and sending these specimens to laboratories around the UK to be tested. If the test is positive, this is a referred to as a lab-confirmed case.
Confirmed positive cases are matched to ONS geographical area codes using the home postcode of the person tested.
The data is now shown by the date the specimen was taken from the person being tested and while it gives a useful analysis of the progression of cases over time, it does mean that the latest days’ figures may be incomplete.