It's Friday evening, so let us take a look back at the weekly data around coronavirus in Devon and Cornwall, and this week, and for the second week in a row, there has been a very small rise in the number of cases confirmed in the region

The figures show that 32 new cases have been confirmed across the two counties 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 29 last week in that seven day period (and 23 the week before)

It means the average number of cases being confirmed across the two counties each day has risen to 4.57 from 4.14, although not all of the newly confirmed cases related to recent infections.

Of the 31 new cases, 18 of them had the specimen recorded in the previous seven days (between July 17 and July 23), with the remaining 13 cases having occurred between July 11 and July 16.

In the last seven days, there have been ten cases confirmed in Cornwall, five cases confirmed in Plymouth, and three in Torbay, although two historical duplicates for Torbay have been removed.

Across the rest of Devon, 15 cases have been confirmed, with 4 in East Devon, 5 in Exeter, 3 in Mid Devon and 4 in Teignbridge. The South Hams saw one new case confirmed, but 2 historical duplicate cases have been removed, with no cases inNorth Devon, Torridge and West Devon

By specimen date, five cases were confirmed in Cornwall in the last seven days (last from July 22), two in Plymouth (July 21), and three in Torbay (July 21). Two cases in East Devon (July 21), three in Exeter (July 21), two in Mid Devon (July 21), one in the South Hams (July 19)

Teignbridge’s last case was from July 16, with the last case in North Devon from June 18, Torridge July 9 and West Devon June 26.

Across the whole of the South West, 93 new cases have been confirmed in the last seven days by specimen date, down from 102 for the seven days prior, although more cases for this week are likely to be added in the upcoming days.

Of the 29 of the districts in the region, which stretches from Cornwall to Dorset and Gloucestershire, and over a ten day period, only Swindon is reporting an average of more than two new cases a day (when previously, none of the 29 districts were)

In terms of cases by specimen between July 13-19 and reported by July 22, Tamerton Foliot of Middle Super Output Areas across Devon and Cornwall had three cases confirmed, with every other areas reporting between 0-2 cases.

Torridge remains the district in England with the lowest positive case infection rate per 100,000 population, with the South Hams 3rd, North Devon 4th, West Devon 5th, East Devon 8th, Cornwall 9th, Teignbridge 10th, Exeter 15th, Torbay 21st, Plymouth 37th, and Mid Devon 40th

In total, Torridge has had just 53 positive cases, with 72 in West Devon, 98 in the South Hams, 119 in North Devon, 210 in Mid Devon, 213 in Teignbridge, 219 in East Devon, 244 in Exeter, 277 in Torbay, 668 in Plymouth and 909 in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

But while the number of cases has risen slightly, it is not yet translating itself into deaths, with the numbers of deaths in Devon having been 0 for three of the last four weeks, or leading to an increase in people going to hospital.

Across the South West, the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 has fallen by nearly a quarter in the previous week, with just 19 people in hospital compared to 24 as of July 17 (and 48 as of July 3). There is currently one person currently on a mechanical ventilator.

(In England, the number of people in hospital is down to 92 and has falled below the 100 for the first time), and hospital deaths are averaging about 10 a day - quite what is going on with the PHE deaths figures, I don't know, as they make no up-to-date sense

It's now three weeks since the pubs reopened, and while there has been a small increase in the number of cases, it is only around 1 extra case in a region of two million people a day, and there is no MSOA areas where any 'outbreaks' or cluster of cases have occurred

Not to say it won't happen, but in Devon and Cornwall, no reports yet of any pubs, restaurants, hotels etc having had to close due to a positive case being reported, and by now, any significant immediate impact from the July 4 reopening would be apparent

In terms of the new cases we are seeing, they tend to individual cases with 1/2 cases maximum confirmed per region on a day rather than any bigger numbers, so no signs of clustering of cases yet

Track and trace continues to be working effectively (or so council officers say at the very least), so it is possible that the increase in cases is just down to more contacts being traced and them being tested, when in recent weeks, that wasn't happened

Still need to be vigilent, but the reopening of the hospitality industry hasn't yet had any significant impact and while there has been a small rise, the number of cases still remain very low. Not to say it won't as more people go out, visit etc, but it hasn't happened yet

Usual caveats apply about these only being the reported cases, but covers anyone who has had a test and tested positive. May be (probably is) others out there with covid but no symptoms, but obviously unless you get tested, there isn't going to be any data around

Would obviously like the number of cases to fall rather than rise, but at the moment, there is an average of just over 4.5 cases a day being confirmed across all of Devon and Cornwall - more than 2 million people.

Another small rise in coronavirus cases confirmed in Devon and Cornwall https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/another-small-rise-coronavirus-cases-4362021

And while this only goes to the end of June, shows the huge fall in deaths related to COVID-19 in Devon, from 185 in April to 9 in June - and based on all available information, July's figure will be lower https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/coronavirus-deaths-map-shows-exeter-4360939

Saturday's figures show six new cases confirmed across Devon and Cornwall. Two in Cornwall (July 22 and July 23), one in Torbay (July 23), one in East Devon (July 22), and two in North Devon (both July 21) - the North Devon cases are the first for the region since June 26

Sunday's figures show 11 new cases confirmed across Devon and Cornwall - eight in Cornwall (two on July 22, 23, 24, and 25), and three in Exeter (two on July 24 and one from July 22). No cases anywhere else in Devon