21 MORE DIE FROM COVID IN THE WEST
AFURTHER 21 people have died in hospitals in Devon and Cornwall after testing positive for Covid-19 in the Westcountry, according to the latest NHS England data.
Figures published yesterday show that four more deaths were reported at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, bringing the total at the venue to 180, and the city’s overall coronavirus hospital death toll to 183. The latest reported deaths all occurred on January 26.
Meanwhile, three more coronavirus deaths have been reported at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (RD&E) while two were confirmed at North Devon District Hospital, bringing their totals to 227 and 74, respectively.
Of the three deaths at the RD&E confirmed in yesterday’s NHS England data, one occurred on January 23, one on January 25 and one on January 27. The two deaths confirmed at North Devon District Hospital occurred on January 26 and January 27.
One more person has died at Torbay Hospital, bringing the total there to
88. The figures show this death occurred on January 25.
Yesterday’s data shows that, since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a total of 573 confirmed reported coronavirus deaths in Devon’s hospitals.
In Cornwall, 11 people have died from coronavirus, according to the most up-to-date figures, nine at hospitals run by Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) with an additional two at Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT), which runs the community hospitals in the county.
The deaths at RCHT involved five recorded on January 25, three on January 26 and one on January 27, while the two deaths at CPFT were both recorded on January 25.
The 11 additional deaths bring the total number of deaths in Cornwall since the pandemic began to 180, with 138 at RCHT and 42 at CPFT hospitals.
More than 150,000 vaccinations in Devon have been carried out, more than anywhere else in the South West.
Latest NHS England figures, which provide the position as of January 24, show that 157,181 vaccinations in the county had taken place, with 145,148 of them being the first dose.
The figures for Devon, which will have risen in the most recent days, are the highest number of vaccinations for any of the regions within the South West, and they show that 14.5% of the county’s population had received their first jab.
The statistics show that, as of last Sunday, of the 79,525 over-80s within Devon, 63,305 of them had received the first vaccine – a total of 79.6%, with 10,743 – 13.5% – having also had the second dose.
While the 79.6% figure is lower as a percentage of the total cohort than anywhere else in the South West other than Cornwall, Devon’s population of over-80s is significantly higher than every other region – more than double in some instances.
Nick Ball, vice-chairman of the Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, told its board meeting yesterday that “Devon was really strong in terms of the vaccination programme”.