Initial forecasts had up to 6,000 excess deaths being caused by the coronavirus pandemic across Devon, councillors have been told, compared to the just under 300 currently recorded.

Devon has been one of the least hit areas by coronavirus, with the number of incidents of the disease ranking them 146th out of 150 upper tier authorities, and the county is one of five that have had significantly fewer deaths in care homes than expected.

No health and care workers have died as a result of coronavirus and just two care homes are currently dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak, Devon County Council’s Health and Adult Care scrutiny committee on Tuesday heard.

But council chief executive Dr Phil Norrey admitted that some of the deaths probably were avoidable if the council knew what it knows about coronavirus when the outbreak began.

He said: “We are right at the bottom of incidence of coronavirus, and we have had in relative terms low incidents in care homes, and are one of five authorities that has had significantly fewer deaths in care homes than would have been expected given the incidents in the community – about half what would have been expected given the community infection rates.

“We have had fewer incidents and less deaths pro rata than others, and I’m not commenting on what has happened nationally, but we have done relatively well.”

In the Devon County Council area, the latest ONS figures state 164 deaths have occurred from coronavirus, with a further 86 in Plymouth and 58 in Torbay. Of the 164 deaths in Devon, 91 have occurred in care homes.

Dr Norrey said that the council had to learn from what happened and to try and understand what the causes of the outbreaks in care homes was. He added: “There is some evidence to show that as we had fewer instances of transfer between care homes, we have done better. But I’m sure some of those deaths would have been avoidable if we knew then what we know now.”

Jennie Stephens, Chief Officer for Adult Care and Health, added that across the county, there were currently only two outbreaks in care homes, while Simon Tapley, Interim accountable officer for the Devon CCG, said that  – while there have been only a few incidents in Devon, the NHS had to do all of the planning for a much larger outbreak.

Although Devon is a ‘beacon council’ for the new track and trace system, the meeting heard that the system was not fully yet up and running and is not likely to be until the end of the month.

Dr Norrey said: “We hope that incidence remain at a very low level so we have the opportunity for the response to be effective. As the data gets better, we can see where the outbreaks in Devon are and deal with them. The incidence will hopefully be relatively low, and while they are low, there is the best chance of success.”