A second resident of the Holmesley care home in Sidmouth has died following an outbreak of Covid-19.

Police and the Care Quality Commission are investigating the outbreak, which has affected some staff members as well as several other residents.

A spokesperson for Welford Healthcare, which runs the home, said:

"I can confirm that we are currently dealing with an outbreak of coronavirus in the home and that sadly, two residents have passed away from the virus. They will be deeply missed and our thoughts are with their loved ones at this challenging time.

"The vast majority of our residents and our staff team have received their first dose of the vaccine and we hope this may have helped prevent an even worse situation.

"Of the residents and staff who tested positive, the majority have shown either no symptoms, or mild symptoms only. We continue to monitor the situation closely, and are doing everything in our power to ensure residents receive the appropriate care.

"For nearly 12 months our staff team has worked incredibly hard to keep the virus from entering our home. We are therefore devastated by this outbreak and are committed to working closely with all the relevant authorities to halt the spread of infection and to investigate how the virus entered our home. We continue to follow all Public Health England advice on infection prevention and control".

Another outbreak at care home in Exmouth[H2]

Devon's Public Health team is 'working closely' with Holmesley Care Home, and with Exmouth's Brandon House where it's reported that nine residents have died following a Covid-19 outbreak.

Devon's Director of Public Health, Steve Brown, said: "We are working very closely with those homes to make sure residents and staff are safe, to control the outbreaks, and to reduce the risk of further transmission.

"Coronavirus is still a very infectious virus, and cases like this are a reminder of how important it is for us still to remain vigilant and to take every precaution to prevent its further spread."

[H2]Testing at schools will identify symptomless cases

He said the overall number of cases in Devon remains low, but advised that a rise in numbers is likely because of the lateral flow tests being carried out on pupils returning to school.

He said: "With more people taking the test, we are likely to identify positive cases. Therefore we are going to see an increase.

"This is a good thing. We're picking up people who have no symptoms, who if they weren't tested could go on to transmit the virus to other people."

He has urged the families of school pupils to also take up the tests to make sure they are not unwittingly spreading the infection.