Four more deaths confirmed across Devon’s hospitals

FOUR hospital patients in Devon who tested positive for coronavirus have died, NHS England has revealed.

The latest figures, published yesterday and taking into account deaths reported in the 24 hours up to 4pm on January 4, show that a further four deaths were confirmed across Devon’s hospitals.

Two were recorded at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (RD&E) one at North Devon District Hospital and one at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth.

This brings the total deaths of patients with coronavirus at RD&E Hospital to 167.

Three further deaths were recorded at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, according to figures issued yesterday.

One took place on December 29 and another two patients died on Monday, with all three being reported in yesterday’s figures from NHS England.

Monday’s figures showed six deaths in Devon hospitals, with four recorded at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (RD&E) and two at North Devon District Hospital.

This comes as the Prime Minister announced on Monday that, with the rapidly rising cases of the virus, the nation would be put into a full lockdown from yesterday.

The Office of National Statistics has reported that a total of 14,691 deaths across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly were registered in the past nine-month period, with 647 of them having Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate as the main cause of death.

Some of the 14,044 deaths ‘due to other causes’ includes deaths where the underlying cause was not Covid19, but that Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate as a contributory cause of death.

It means that 4.4% of all deaths in Devon and Cornwall in that ninemonth period were because of Covid19.

The figures show that, across the two counties, there were 15 deaths in March, 345 in April, 140 in May, 18 in June, 4 in July and August, 6 in September, 28 in October and 87 in November.