12 Covid care home outbreaks in Harrogate since second wave
by
Oct 7, 2020

Twelve care homes in the Harrogate district have reported coronavirus outbreaks since the start of the second wave of the pandemic.

Across North Yorkshire as a whole, 33 homes have declared cases since the beginning of September when infection numbers began to rise.

An outbreak is defined as when two or more cases of covid have tested positive at a home.


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Richard Webb, director of adult social care at North Yorkshire County Council, revealed the figure at a briefing of North Yorkshire Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of agencies that manages emergencies.

North Yorkshire has 235 residential and nursing homes, plus extra care facilities. Homes in the Harrogate district make up a third of that figure.

Mr Webb said:

“We are working very closely with them and we have been doing a lot of drop-in visits to homes. I have to say we have found some really good practice around how residents are using their PPE, following the rules and supporting residents and families.

“Equally, where we have found poor practice we will act swiftly to address that and work with the Care Quality Commission as the care regulator to do so.”

Mr Webb added that a task group set up to look into how visits could be allowed in care homes in the county held its first meeting in the last seven days.

The group includes care providers, residents, relatives and a local charity that deals with support for people with dementia.

Visits have been restricted at homes throughout October in an effort to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

A further 24 positive cases of Covid have been confirmed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours, according to Public Health England figures.

The number takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,254.

The weekly rate of cases in the district stands at 97.6 cases per 100,000 population. 

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