Coronavirus cases in Cornwall fall to their lowest level since September
The Duchy has the second lowest infection rates of any upper tier authority in England
The number of weekly coronavirus cases confirmed across Cornwall and Devon has dropped nearly 40 per cent and down to the lowest levels since mid-September
A total of 380 new cases were confirmed across the two counties in the last week – the lowest since the week ending September 25 – with the total since the start of the pandemic at 45,964
Cornwall has the second lowest infection rates of any upper tier authority in England, with Devon third, only behind the Isle of Wight, and at a lower tier level, the four of the five lowest infection rates are in Devon.
Government statistics show that 380 new cases have been confirmed across the region in the past seven days in both pillar 1 data from tests carried out by the NHS and pillar 2 data from commercial partners, compared to 650 new cases confirmed last week.
Of the 380 new cases confirmed since February 26, with 78 of those in Cornwall.
This compared to the 650 new cases confirmed between February 19 and 25, of which 174 were in Cornwall.
A total of 308 of the cases in the past week have a specimen date between February 26 and March 4, with 63 of those recorded in Cornwall.
The latest positivity rates for tests carried out at 1% in Cornwall
In Cornwall, the number of patients in hospital has more than halved, down to 23 from the 54 as of last week, with the 11 in Royal Cornwall Hospital beds the lowest figure for that trust since December 11.
In the last week, there have been three deaths in Cornwall hospitals of patients within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test.
In terms of the latest MSOA cluster maps, that cover the period of specimen dates between February 22 and February 28, there are 170 areas of Devon and Cornwall with between 0-2 cases, up from 128 as of last Friday
It comes as Steve Brown, director of public health Devon, said that testing for coronavirus is going to be the cornerstone of our transition back to normal life.
“Over coming weeks and months, we are going to see a lot more movement of people – students returning to education, more people getting back to work, the loosening of restrictions on how many people we can be in contact with, and in time shops, cafes, and other businesses reopening.
“Coronavirus thrives on socialisation, which is why we see case numbers fall during lockdown, when movement and socialising is restricted.
“Taking a test regularly – the rapid tests that give results within the hour – is going to be an absolutely vital part of our way out of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Local community testing sites are available to anyone who work or whose volunteering requires them to be in contact with other people. We are also encouraging parents of secondary school and college-age students to use the community testing centres, as well as people in support bubbles. The tests are very quick and easy to take and results are texted or emailed back to you within the hour.”
He added:
“As restrictions do start to lift, it’s so important that we continue to follow the national lockdown measures and stay at home and only go out if it is absolutely essential. If you do go out, remember: wear your face covering when you’re in a public place indoors, keep social distance from one another, and wash your hands regularly.
“The vaccine is part of our way out of coronavirus. But not on its own or in isolation of the other prevention measures.”
In Cornwall, 216,072 people have had their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, 46.8 per cent of the adult population, up from 39.3 per cent as of last week. The Isles of Scilly have also recorded the same percentage.
The Covid-19 cases are identified by taking specimens from people and sending these specimens to laboratories around the UK to be tested. If the test is positive, this is a referred to as a lab-confirmed case.
Confirmed positive cases are matched to Office for National Statistics geographical area codes using the home postcode of the person tested.
Cases received from laboratories by 12.30am are included in the counts published that day. While there may have been new cases of coronavirus confirmed or people having tested positive, those test results either yet to reach Public Health England for adding to the dataset or were not received in time for the latest daily figures to be published.