THE number of coronavirus cases in Mid Devon increased by 164 over the weekend, official figures show.
A total of 18,179 cases had been confirmed in Mid Devon when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on February 21 (Monday), up from 18,015 on Friday.
The cumulative rate of infection in Mid Devon, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 21,826 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 28,096.
Since January 31, the UK Health Security Agency has changed the way it reports coronavirus cases.
It means if one person tests positive for the virus more than 90 days after the first infection, two infection episodes will be recorded.
Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 108,367 over the period, to 18,654,572.
People with a positive lateral flow test no longer need to take a follow-up PCR test to confirm the result unless they have coronavirus symptoms.
UK case numbers now include LFT results for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
There were no new coronavirus deaths recorded over the weekend in Mid Devon.
The dashboard shows 112 people had died in the area by February 21 (Monday) – which was unchanged from Friday.
It means there have been two deaths in the past week, which is an increase on none the previous week.
They were among 9,071 deaths recorded across the South West.
The figures include anyone who died within 28 days of a positive test result for Covid-19, and whose usual residence was in Mid Devon.
Daily death counts are revised each day, with each case backdated to the actual date of death, so some areas might see their figures revised down.
Figures reported on a Monday are likely to be lower as a result of a lag in reporting deaths over the weekend.
The figures also show that nearly nine in 10 people in Mid Devon have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
The latest figures show 64,284 people had received both jabs by February 20 (Sunday) – 85 per cent of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.
Across England, 85 per cent of people aged 12 and above had received a second dose of the jab.
Unlike at local level, the national rate was calculated using mid-2020 population estimates from the Office for National Statistics.
21 February, 2022Coronavirus Update, February 21
103 further coronavirus cases in West Devon
Patrick Jack
Data Reporter