Big fall in cases of Covid-19 in West hospitals

THE number of patients in all of Devon’s hospitals following a positive Covid-19 test has fallen to its lowest figure since October – with no patients with the virus at all in North Devon District Hospital.

Most recent figures as of Tuesday morning show there were 131 patients across the county in hospital after a positive test, down on the 195 as of the previous Tuesday, a drop of a third on the previous seven days.

Patient numbers have fallen in all of Devon’s hospitals, and Devon’s figures are slightly inflated by the fact that they have been taking in patients from elsewhere in the country, including Somerset and Dorset, because in those regions facilities are closer to capacity.

In total, as of Tuesday, there were 29 patients at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (down from 41 as of February 9), 34 at the Nightingale (down from 54), 23 at Torbay Hospital (down from 33), 42 in Derriford Hospital in Plymouth (down from 62), 0 at North Devon District Hospital (down from 2), and three in Devon Partnership NHS Trust units (unchanged).

The figure for the RDE is the lowest since November 1, Torbay since January 10, Derriford since January 1, and with no patients suffering from Covid19 in North Devon Hospital it is the first time since October 4 any of Devon’s hospitals has recorded that figure.

In Cornwall, the number of patients in hospital has fallen, down to 88 from the 129 as of the previous week.

And the number of patients in mechanical ventilation beds across the two counties was down as well to 22, from 27 the previous week, with 11 in Derriford, six in Torbay and five in Exeter. In Cornwall, the number is nine, down from 14.

The figures show the number of patients in hospital following a positive Coivd-19 test who are currently occupying a bed. But not every patient would necessarily have been admitted to hospital due to Covid-19

A number of patients may have either contracted the virus inside the hospital, or being admitted for unrelated reasons and been subsequently found to test positive when given a routine Covid test, having been asymptotic on arrival.

Google Maps > Covid-free: There are no patients with coronavirus in the North Devon District Hospital, as case rates fall across the South West