Devon residents testing level the reason for Covid rate rise

Several parts of Devon have Covid infection rates above 1,000 per 100,000

More testing and cases among unvaccinated young people are partly behind Devon's high Covid infection rate, a health official has said.

The coronavirus infection rate is above 1,000 in areas of the county including Bideford and Plympton.

Devon's director of public health said it was partly due to residents testing more than other parts of the country.

It comes as figures show the south-west of England has given 10 million vaccinations in less than a year.

Steve Brown, director of public health for Devon County Council, said: "What I would say is that Devon residents are really good at testing so we are testing much more as a population than the rest of England as an average."

He told the BBC that parts of the country which previously had low rates, including large proportions of Devon, had a lower level of "natural immunity" which was also contributing to the higher rates Devon is seeing now.

Mr Brown said: "We are also seeing cases really being driven by primary and secondary-aged children.

"We are not seeing those cases in those older more vulnerable people who might end up in hospital.

"I wouldn't want to worry people but our rates are much higher than last year but with the vaccination programme we are not seeing the same impact which is the important measure to look at."

The latest figures in the week to last Friday show Torridge has an infection rate of 1,014 per 100,000 people - putting it at the top of the table when it comes to districts in England with the highest Covid case rates.

Other parts of Devon above 1,000 cases per 100,000 include:

Bideford South and East 1,687

Bideford North 1,355

Ellacombe in Torbay 1,051.5

Plympton Underwood 1,074