South West Covid rates lowest in UK

LEVELS of coronavirus infection are lower in the South West than in any other part of Britain, latest figures reveal.

Estimates from the Office for National Statistics suggest around one person in every 2,980 in the South West now has the virus.

In some of the most positive Covid news so far this year the ONS said the percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 is generally falling.

Although case numbers rose fractionally across Devon and Cornwall by an average of two a day in the last week, that is thought to be due in large part to more testing.

Meanwhile hospitalisations are down and infection rates in Torbay are the lowest in England

Three of the four major hospitals in Devon have no patients with coronavirus. Torbay Hospital and the Royal Cornwall Hospital have one patient each with the disease.

Derriford Hospital in Plymouth has been free of Covid patients since April 23, the first time since September 19 that the hospital has had no patients with the virus.

Across England the number of people with infections has fallen by 40% in a week, according to the latest ONS figures. Scientists say this would be the first week for any new jump in cases following the easing of lockdown restrictions on April 12.

Paul Hunter, professor in medicine from the University of East Anglia, said: “For the time being at least it looks like the current road map is still on target.”

Professor Tim Spector, of King’s College London, said the UK was on track to reach herd immunity. In Devon and Cornwall more than a million have had one vaccine dose.

THREE of Devon’s four hospitals are free of Covid-19 patients, latest figures from the NHS reveal – with no patients across Devon and Cornwall on ventilators.

There have been no patients in hospital in North Devon following a positive Covid-19 test for more than three weeks - while it is two weeks since there was anyone in Torbay Hospital.

Derriford Hospital in Plymouth is also free of Covid-19 patients, and has been since April 23, which was the first time since September 19 that the hospital has had no patients.

The last time anyone was in North Devon District Hospital after a positive Covid-19 test was on April 4.

In Torbay, there was one patient in the hospital on April 14, but they were discharged the following day, and that is the only Covid-19 patient Torbay Hospital has seen since

March 31. Across Devon, there has been a fall in the number of patients in hospital, down to 11 from 13 as of last week, based on the figures showing the position as of Tuesday morning (April 27), with all 11 at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (down from 12 as of last week).

In Cornwall, the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust units had one patient - the lowest figure since October 2 while Cornish Partnership Trust hospitals have not had a patient since April 12.

And the figures also show that as of Tuesday, there were no patients in any of Devon and Cornwall’s hospital in a mechanical ventilation bed the first time since October 8

The figures show the amount of patients in hospital following a positive Covid-19 test who are currently occupying a bed.

But not every patient would necessarily have been admitted to hospital due to Covid-19, with a number of patients either contracting the virus inside the hospital, or being admitted for unrelated reasons but subsequently testing positive asymptotically when given routine tests.

The news comes as experts say there is good evidence from early real-world data in the UK that Covid-19 vaccines are working after the first dose, experts have said.

However, Sage group scientists, which advises the Government, say the jabs may fail to prevent hospital admissions amongst those who are frail and elderly.