NHS hero Captain Tom dies of Covid
He was Britain’s hero from the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, walking determinedly in his garden to raise money for health service charities.
And yesterday the virus against which Captain Sir Tom Moore dedicated all his efforts claimed his life, at the age of 100.
in a statement, his daughters Hannah and Lucy said: “it is with great sadness that we announce the death of our dear father, Captain Sir Tom Moore. we are so grateful that we were with him during the last hours of his life; Hannah, Benjie and Georgia by his bedside and Lucy on FaceTime. we spent hours chatting to him, reminiscing about our childhood and our wonderful mother. we shared laughter and tears together.
“The last year of our father’s life was nothing short of remarkable. He was rejuvenated and experienced things he’d only ever dreamed of.”
Sir Tom’s fundraising efforts raised more than £32 million for the nHS, walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday during the first national lockdown in April.
His death comes as nine more deaths were also announced at hospitals in Devon and Cornwall and news of a coronavirus “mutation of concern” was reported to be in the South west, with 11 cases in Bristol.
THE highest number of weekly deaths registered across Devon and Cornwall where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate has been recorded – with many of them in care homes.
The figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) relate to the week of January 16 to January 22, registered up to January 30.
They show that 128 of the 366 deaths registered in the two counties had Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate – the highest weekly total in Devon and Cornwall since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. A total of 65 deaths in care homes is also the highest weekly total.
A further ten deaths from week two (January 9-15) and one from week one (January 2-8) have also been added into the data set this week, taking the total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic in the two counties to 1,222.
Of the 128 deaths registered in week three (January 16-22), there were 46 deaths of people from Cornwall, 17 from Teignbridge, 15 in Plymouth, 14 in East Devon, 13 in Exeter, 9 in Torbay, 7 in South Hams, 3 in Mid Devon, and 2 in Torridge and West Devon. No deaths in North Devon or the Isles of Scilly were registered. 65 of the deaths occurred in care homes, 57 in hospitals, with five at home and one in a hospice.
Yesterday, it was announced nine more patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 died in hospitals in Cornwall and Devon.
The latest figures, released by NHS England, showed four of the deaths at the Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Two deaths were reported on January 31, one on January 30 and one on January 29.
Three deaths were also recorded at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust. Of those deaths, one occurred on February 1 and two on January 30.
There were also two deaths in Devon hospitals, one at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and one at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust.
There have now been a total of 782 Covid-19 related deaths in hospitals across Devon and Cornwall since the pandemic began.
In total, Cornwall reported 1,007 cases of coronavirus for the seven days up to January 27, a fall of 150 compared to the previous week, with a rolling rate of 176.1 cases per 100,000.
Devon saw 1,242 new positive coronavirus cases recorded for the same seven-day-period. Torbay had the highest case rate out of the three local authorities in the county, with 201 new cases recorded, equating to a rate of 147.5 cases per 100,000 people.
Plymouth recorded 364 new cases in the seven-day-period, with a case rate of 138.9 per 100,000 people. The Devon County Council area, which includes East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge and West Devon, recorded 677 new cases, with a rate of 84.4 cases per 100,000 people. Devon’s rate is the lowest in England, according to latest figures.
Meanwhile, the vaccination rollout is continuing at pace in the Westcountry, with the latest mass vaccination centre, at the Royal Cornwall Showground, Wadebridge, welcoming its first patients for jabs on Monday.