The latest figures for positive coronavirus test results in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have been recorded and they show 31 new cases in the last 24 hours.

It means that as of 4.21pm today (Friday) there have now been a total of 1,992 positive test results recorded in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly since the start of the pandemic.

This represents a rate of transmission in the region of 348.4 cases per 100,000 people since the start of the pandemic, which while slowly rising is still relatively low compared to many parts of the country.

The rate of new coronavirus cases in Cornwall continues to fall in the most recent seven-day update.

As of yesterday evening (Thursday) Cornwall and Isles of Scilly had 175 new cases reported in the seven days leading up to October 18, which represented a rate of 30.6 new cases per 100,000 people.

This was compared to the 183 case recorded in the previous week, leading up to October 11, at a rate of 32 cases per 100,000 people.

The figures are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two), with the rate expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

Data for the most recent four days, October 19 to 22, has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

The list has been calculated by the PA news agency and is based on Public Health England data published on October 22 on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.

Across the UK the overall case figure now sits at 830, 998 – a rise of 20,530 cases on the previous day.

One death relating to coronavirus in Cornwall was registered in the most recent weekly period, latest Office for National Statistics figures reveal.

The latest figures from the ONS, which has been collating data for deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community, relate to the week of October 3 to October 9, but were registered up to October 17.

The death, which was of a Cornish person in hospital, is the first in Cornwall to be registered for seven weeks.

Another death – also of a Cornish person in hospital which occurred in the week of April 4 to April 10 – has also been registered this week.

The county’s first hospital death since September 22 was reported on Saturday, October 10.

The death was recorded at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro last Thursday (October 15) but was only reported in the figures from NHS England on Saturday.

It takes the total number of hospital deaths in Cornwall up to 94, with 68 of them recorded at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust and 26 at the Cornwall Partnerships NHS Trust.

There have been no further deaths in Cornwall in the last 24 hours, but nationally a further 131 people who tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19) have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 31,558.

Patients were aged between 45 and 99 years old. All except two (aged between 77 and 91) had known underlying health conditions.

The dates of their deaths range from September 13 to October 22, with the majority being on or after October 14.

Their families have been informed.

There were eight deaths reported in the south west as a whole.

In today’s coronavirus-related news:

The rate of new coronavirus cases in Cornwall continues to fall in the most recent seven-day update.

However, the predictions for the south west are still higher than anywhere else in the country,

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The waiting times for routine treatments at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals have reached a record high - because of coronavirus.

"How quickly we can get back on track and bring down waiting times will depend on what happens during the second wave of the pandemic over the coming weeks and months," said a RCHT spokesperson.

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The government has confirmed which areas of England will move into different in tiers of coronavirus level.

Here the rules of each tier are explained.

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