There has been a 50 per cent rise in the last week in the number of people in hospital across Devon and Cornwall following a positive COVID-19 test.

The NHS England figures, released this morning, Friday, November 6, give the latest details of the admissions and diagnoses of coronavirus patients by hospital trust.

It shows that as of Tuesday, November 3, the most recent date the information is available for, there were 156 people in Devon's hospitals and six in Cornwall.

This compares to 99 and four as of October 27's figures.

Of the 156 patients, there were 38 in Torbay Hospital (up from 33), 38 in Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (23), 16 in North Devon District Hospital (11), 64 in Derriford Hospital in Plymouth (32), six at the Royal Cornwall Hospital (4), but no-one in Cornish Partnership Trust hospitals.

And the numbers of patients in mechanical ventilation beds has doubled in the last seven days, with as of November 3, 18 patients, compared to nine as of October 27.

There was one patient in Torbay Hospital and the RD&E, two in the Royal Cornwall Hospital, six in Derriford Hospital, and eight in North Devon District Hospital.

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 small 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.

In the last seven days, seven people have died in hospitals in Devon following a positive COVID-19 test, with four in Plymouth and three in Torbay.