East Devon has recorded 11 new cases of coronavirus in the past seven days, the number remaining the same as last week.

Across Devon, the total number of new coronavirus cases confirmed has risen – but fallen in Plymouth and Cornwall.

Government statistics show that 381 new cases have been confirmed across the South West in the past seven days.

Of the 381 new cases, 11 were in East Devon, 107 in Exeter, 8 in Mid Devon, 13 in North Devon, 36 in Plymouth, 9 in the South Hams, 20 in Teignbridge, 39 in Torbay, 5 in Torridge, and 4 in West Devon and 132 in Cornwall.

Cases in Cornwall, the South Hams, Plymouth have fallen compared to the previous week, with East Devon remaining the same.

In Torbay, cases have more than doubled, from 18 to 39 – partially linked to an outbreak at a care home. And in the Devon County Council area, they have nearly doubled, from 96 to 178, although 60 per cent of those cases are in Exeter, primarily linked to the University.

Of the 381 new cases confirmed, 280 of the cases have a specimen date of between September 25 and October 1, with the majority of the other 101 cases dated occurring between September 21 and 24, although some dated back to the start of the month.

Of the 303 cases with a specimen date of between September 25 and October 1, 10 were recorded in East Devon. The most recent date for a positive test in the region was September 29.

Elsewhere, in Exeter there was 72, 5 in Mid Devon, 12 in North Devon, 17 in the South Hams, 14 in Teignbridge, 31 in Plymouth, 32 in Torbay, 2 in Torridge, and 4 in West Devon.

While the number of cases in Devon have significantly risen, more than half of the cases are linked to students at the University of Exeter.

It is understood that at least 60 households within the City are self-isolating and following public health advice, and there is no evidence at this stage of the virus spreading into the wider community, say Public Health teams.

But as demand for tests is rising at the University, they have invited the national Test and Trace scheme to set up a temporary Testing Centre on the Streatham campus dedicated to Exeter students and staff, which will enable them to focus their Halo resources on some targeted testing, and to develop a process to enable staff family testing.

Of the cases with a specimen date of between September 22 to 28, there are currently 33 clusters where three of more cases have been confirmed in a Middle Super Output Area – seven in Devon, five in Torbay, five in Plymouth, and 16 in Cornwall.

There is a cluster of three cases in Ivybridge in the South Hams and four in Roundswell and Landkey in North Devon, with five clusters in Exeter – St Leonard's with four, Central Exeter with five, St James Park and Hoopern with nine, Middlemoor and Sowton with seven, and 52 in Pennsylvania and University.

And while there has been a rise in cases across the region from previous figures, the number of people in hospital with coronavirus has continued to remain relatively low compared to the rest of the country, and has even fallen in the South West.

In the South West, there are currently 33 people in hospital and two on ventilation, compared to 34 and three respectively last Friday.

There has not been a hospital death since September 20, and were only three deaths in the South West in hospital in September.

The R Rate for the South West is now being estimated as between 1.1 and 1.4, the same figures as last week, with the ONS survey estimating that 0.08 per cent of the population in the South West would test positive at any one time, up from 0.07 per cent as of last week.

NHS 111 data for both Devon and Cornwall has fallen significantly in the past seven days, with the figures down 50 per cent on last Friday.

In total, Torridge has had 76 positive cases, West Devon 87, with 151 in the South Hams, 168 in North Devon, 249 in Mid Devon, 272 in Teignbridge, 305 in East Devon, 377 in Torbay, 460 in Exeter, 948 in Plymouth and 1397 in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

The Covid-19 cases are identified by taking specimens from people and sending these specimens to laboratories around the UK to be tested. If the test is positive, this is a referred to as a lab-confirmed case.

Confirmed positive cases are matched to ONS geographical area codes using the home postcode of the person tested.

Steve Brown, the Deputy Director for Public Health Devon, said: "The latest numbers show another rise in the number of tests carried out in Devon, and we are hearing fewer reports of delay or having to travel distances to attend a test.

"Overall, the county is still comparably very low down the table for the number of confirmed coronavirus cases. We have the immediate increase in cases in Exeter for which there is no evidence of spread within the community, but confirmed cases in our seven other District areas are still low,

"Testing resources in the main are keeping up with demand in Devon, and I ask anyone who is showing symptoms – the high temperature, new and continuous cough, or change in their sense of taste or smell – to self-isolate immediately and book a test."