Covid claims ten more lives in far South West
THE NHS yesterday confirmed that a further ten people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in Devon and Cornwall hospitals in its latest daily update.
Out of those, seven deaths were reported at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) with two dying on February 12, three on February 13 and two on February 15. NHS England confirmed that one death was recorded at Cornwall Partnership on February 13.
In Devon one patient passed away at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth with the other death recorded at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
Across the whole of the South West 43 deaths were recorded in the lastest set of figures – the lowest of any region in the country.
Meanwhile the pressure for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to announce a substantial lifting of the lockdown restrictions when he announces his “road map” for the future on Monday, is growing.
And there was positive news that if travel within the UK is again allowed from later in the spring, beach resorts in the Westcountry could be among the safest places to visit. MPs were told there has never been a Covid-19 outbreak linked to a crowded beach.
While beaches in Cornwall were busy last summer, there was no repeat of scenes at Durdle Door in Dorset, Bournemouth, Brighton, Southend and various other spots, which made national headlines.
Thousands of people mingled with strangers during the 2020 holiday season as beaches were filled with families and sun-seekers looking to spend the day by the sea. At one point, a major incident was declared in Dorset after emergency services were stretched to the limit.
Visit Cornwall chief Malcolm Bell had said the main reason Cornwall avoided problems was because unlike other locations, people had so many beaches to choose from in the county.
Speaking to a committee of MPs on Wednesday, Professor Mark Woolhouse, a scientific adviser to Boris Johnson’s government, said trips to the beach will be one of the safest things to do once lockdown is eased.
Professor Woolhouse, who is a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, said: “Over the summer we were treated to all this on the television news and pictures of crowded beaches, and there was an outcry about this.
“There were no outbreaks linked to crowded beaches, there’s never been a Covid-19 outbreak linked to a beach ever anywhere in the world to the best of my knowledge.”
He said that mass gatherings – such as a horse racing event – are an exception because they do not involve social distancing and there are “pinch points” like travel and refreshment facilities.
“I think we do have to understand where the risks are so that we can do as much as possible safely,” he added. Professor Woolhouse also argued that the success of the vaccination programme meant the government could consider “earlier unlocking” of curbs.
“If you are driven by the data and not by dates, right now you should be looking at earlier unlocking because the data are so good,” he said.
Professor Woolhouse added that he believed the government was slow to restart schools and allow outdoor activities after the first lockdown. I think we probably could have considered reopening schools much sooner in the first lockdown,” he said. “The other thing, quite clearly, is outdoor activities.”