Some parts of Devon have seen no new positive cases of coronavirus recorded in the last week.

The latest lab-confirmed case counts and rates published by the Government on Friday evening show that the South Hams and West Devon have seen no new cases recorded in the past eight days.

It has now been five days since a positive case in East Devon was recorded, while just two new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Teignbridge and Torridge in the last week.

And the latest figures show that in terms of infection rates per 100,000 people, areas of Devon are still among the lowest in England and that Exeter is the city council area with the lowest infection rate.

Torridge has the third lowest infection rate, with South Hams 7th, East Devon 9th, North Devon 11th, West Devon 13th, Cornwall 14th, Teignbridge 21st, Mid Devon 22nd, Exeter 34th, Plymouth 37th, and Torbay 77th.

Torridge is both the area with the third lowest number of cases, with only Rutland – the small historic county in England, and the City of London, an administrative region covering the Square Mile and populated by just 9,000 people – having had fewer cases.

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Cllr John Hart, the Leader of Devon County Council, said: “Fortunately, we had limited confirmed cases given the size of the population in Devon at the time of the lockdown on March 23.

“This, and the fact that Devon residents have followed the ‘Stay at Home’ and social distancing measures so well, has helped levels stay low.

“I want to thank residents and businesses for following these measures, I have no doubt that it has helped save lives.

“I understand that the lockdown has been difficult but I would ask people to continue to follow these guidelines.

“There are many vulnerable people in Devon, so please think twice before travelling, think about the impact on your neighbours, think about the risks and please continue to wash your hands regularly and abide by the social distancing guidelines.”

Cllr Phil Bialyk, leader of Exeter City Council, said that it was good news that Exeter had the lowest infection rate of any city, there was still the fear about a big spike still hitting the region.

He said: “Coronavirus had the ability to get here but I think people have been disciplined here. We do not have a big industrial base here in Exeter and lots of people are working from home, probably a higher proportion than other areas, and they can carry on for a while. There is also space between us and the next largest city, so we are not part of a big conurbation, so that may have restricted it well.

“We do need to be careful as people travelling a bit further and that they bring something with them, and that could be our biggest fear that it could spark something up.

“I can understand the tourist business wanting to spark up and we have to be careful we don’t suffer a big spike here.”

In the last seven days, just 71 new positive cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Devon and Cornwall. Of the 71, 24 were in Cornwall, 12 in Plymouth and Torbay, eight in North Devon, six in Mid Devon, three in Exeter, two in East Devon, Teignbridge Torridge, with no new cases in West Devon and the South Hams.