A trade union has said it still has concerns about young soldiers from around the country spreading covid when they return to the Army Foundation College in Harrogate.

Unison North Yorkshire last week called for a halt to any new recruits joining the college until covid safety is guaranteed.

Shadow Armed Forces minister Stephen Morgan sought similar assurances after hearing there had been more than 100 infections.

The Ministry of Defence said fewer than 40 of the 2,000 personnel working and training at the college on Penny Pot Lane had tested positive for covid and none required medical treatment.

It added trainee soldiers would remain at the college over half-term.

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Union leaders welcomed the MOD’s statement but still have fears about the ongoing impact of the movement of recruits in January.

A spokesperson for Unison North Yorkshire said:

“The MOD has still not provided answers as to why they thought it was appropriate to move hundreds of young recruits to Harrogate from across the country during a lockdown.

“Thankfully the MOD have confirmed that none of the young soldiers are seriously ill with covid, but that is a point that we have never raised.

“We know that young, healthy recruits would not be expected to get ill. We also know that a third of people with covid do not have symptoms.

“Our concern is that our members come into contact with young people from across the country who may have covid, then our members are the ones who take it home to their families and communities.”

Junior soldiers returning to training last month were tested twice with lateral flow tests, which are used to test people who may be asymptomatic.

The MOD said those who tested positive isolated at a purpose built 96-bed accommodation unit for the mandated period of time.

A MOD spokesperson said:

“Fewer than 40 personnel at the Army Foundation College are isolating after testing positive for covid. None of these individuals currently require medical treatment and it is incorrect to suggest we are not coping with the situation.

“The British army takes the health and wellbeing of our personnel very seriously and have been providing lateral flow testing, robust social distancing and hygiene measures in place to protect personnel and prevent further infections.”

A further death from a patient who tested positive for covid has been recorded at Harrogate District Hospital.

It takes the total deaths since March to 128. NHS England figures show the death was reported yesterday.

The Harrogate district recorded a further 40 coronavirus cases today, according to Public Health England.

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The figure brings the number of cases across the district since the start of the pandemic to 6,692.

Meanwhile, the seven-day covid rate for the district has increased slightly to 177 people per 100,000.

The North Yorkshire average stands at 164, while the national rate is 266.

Tomorrow morning’s vaccinations at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate and Ripon racecourse have been postponed due to the snow forecast.

North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group said today people with appointments scheduled between 8am and 12.45pm will be contacted and booked in at the next available time.

However, appointments due for tomorrow afternoon are still due to go ahead as planned.

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The Ripon site is due to open this week.

Health bosses said the decision was taken in the interests of patient safety.

A statement from the CCG said:

“GP practices in the Harrogate district are currently in the process of contacting all affected patients directly and will be booking those patients in to the next available clinics.”

A yellow weather warning for snow and ice is currently in place for the district between 10pm tonight and 11.59pm tomorrow, according to the Met Office.

A further 41 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the Harrogate district, according to Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic up to 6,558.

The district’s seven-day covid rate has also fallen to 174 per 100,000 people.

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The county-wide rate stands at 170, while the national average is 308.

Meanwhile, a further death from a patient who tested positive for covid has been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

It takes the death toll at the hospital up to 124. The death was recorded on January 28, according to NHS England statistics.

Harrogate district taxpayers could face paying a council tax bill of more than £2,000 this coming year.

Officials at Harrogate Borough Council, North Yorkshire County Council and North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner are set to decide on their proposals in February.

In total, if approved, the final bill for the 2021/22 financial year would come tot £2,007.17 – a 3% increase on last year.

Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said there had “never been a more difficult time” to ask the public to pay more for council services.

Each authority has tabled an increase in its share and will vote individually on its proposal.

A breakdown of the potential council tax bill for Harrogate district in 2021/22.

Local town and parish councils will also levy a parish precept on the bill..

In Ripon, local councillors decided to freeze the precept for 2021/22 meaning residents will pay £71.89 to the city council.

Meanwhile, Knaresborough Town Council has agreed a 1.99% increase in its precept to around £25 for a band D property.

Uncertainty over council funding

The hike in council tax comes as local authorities face a strain on resources amid the coronavirus pandemic and uncertainty over future funding.

Gary Fielding, corporate director of resources at the county council, told councillors recently that there “had never been more uncertainty than there is at the moment” for councils.

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Meanwhile, Cllr Les told an executive meeting of the county council that there had never been a tougher time for the council to make a decision on increasing council tax.

He said:

“I don’t think there has ever been a more difficult time for us to do this exercise.

“Never have our services been more needed, but equally never has the economy and society been under such pressure.

“So we really need to get the balance right between what we need to deliver in services and what the community of North Yorkshire can afford to pay for those services.”

He added that the council will continue to lobby government for fairer funding following a decade of cuts to local authority grants.

The pandemic has forced councils to think more carefully about finances.

So far, the county council has spent £80 million responding to covid. Meanwhile the borough council faces a £5.9 million cost due to losses in car parking and leisure centre revenue.

This has left officials proposing to hike council tax and dip into reserves to balance the books.

The county council plans to use £8.2 million of its own funds to offset a shortfall next year, but officials have warned it cannot continue to use its reserves in the long run.

North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner will make decisions on their budgets next month.

The Harrogate district’s seven-day covid rate of infection has fallen below 200 people per 100,000 for the first time this year — but the hospital is now treating a record number of patients.

The infection rate now stands at 189 people per 100,000. It had not been below 200 since December 28.

But the number of patients being treated at Harrogate District Hospital has increased to 57.

The figure is an all-time high since the pandemic started although no further deaths have been reported today at the hospital.

David Mattinson, medical registrar on one of the hospital’s covid wards, tweeted today it had been “exceptionally busy” since Christmas and urged people to stay at home.

David Mattinson, medical registrar on one of the covid wards (centre of the photo), said the hospital has been “exceptionally busy” since Christmas. Picture: Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust.

Health bosses said yesterday hospitals across the county were treating more people than in the first wave.

A further 43 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district today by Public Health England. It takes the total number of cases since March to 6,517.

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Volunteers are needed to support the Ripon vaccination centre, which is expected to open next month.

Mashamshire Community Office, a charity which offers information and advice in the town, is looking for a team of marshals for the site, which will be at Ripon racecourse.

Health bosses confirmed the location of the vaccination site yesterday.

Volunteers are likely to be needed from the second week of February, a post on the Kirkby Malzeard and Masham Surgery website said.

The post said days may vary, but volunteers are likely to be required on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

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Two sessions will be held at the site from 8am until 1.15pm and 1pm to 6pm. Ten volunteers will be needed per session.

All personal protective equipment and hi-vis will be provided and no DBS check is required.

Duties will include directing traffic and guiding people inside the site.

Anyone interested should contact Mashamshire Community Office on mco@visitmasham.com.

More than seven out of 10 fines for breaches of lockdown restrictions in North Yorkshire have been handed to men, according to police figures.

North Yorkshire Police revealed yesterday it has issued 328 fixed penalty notices since the third lockdown started.

Of that number, 235 have been to men — 72 per cent of all fines issued so far. Ninety-three have been to women.

Nearly half of the fines have been to people aged 18 to 25.

A total of 160 have been issued for indoor gatherings, some of which have been for house parties.

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Superintendent Mike Walker said officers have to deal with reports of house parties “every night of the week”, mainly in the Scarborough district and York.

Total number of lockdown fines issued by North Yorkshire Police since January 6. Data: North Yorkshire Police.

In Harrogate, 22 of the 34 fixed penalty notices since the third lockdown began on January 6 have been issued for being outside without good reason. 

Police have handed 27 of the fines to men. However, most of the breaches have been committed by people from outside the area with just 11 notices given to local residents.

It comes as police pledged to get tougher on those who breach lockdown restrictions and said they would no longer “waste time” with rule breakers.

Superintendent Mike Walker, North Yorkshire Police.

Yesterday Superintendent Walker told a meeting of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, the partnership organisation that leads the county’s response to covid, that officers continued to issue fines but had seen an improvement in the last week.

A total of 87 fines were handed out across the county in week three of lockdown compared with 134 in week two. He said:

“We are starting to see slightly better compliance. 

“But we are still having to issue fixed penalty notices to people who do not believe that the regulations are there to follow.”

He added he felt the message to stay at home was getting through to most people, but a minority do not feel it applies to them.

“People know what they should be doing and they know why they should be doing it, but they choose to ignore the warnings and the risks and choose to ignore the fact that over 100,000 people have died from the virus.

“They think that what they want to is more important or they think they won’t catch it.

“In my opinion, this is incredibly short-sighted, naive and plain wrong. This is a highly contagious and deadly virus. We’ve all seen the damage it can do and it does not discriminate.

“It only takes one contact with one contagious person who may be asymptomatic to contract the virus and potentially pass it on, an action which may end up with someone losing their life.”

A further 53 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to today’s Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 6,474.

The district’s covid rate has fallen to 208 per 100,000 people. It was 228 yesterday.

The county-wide average stands at 199, while the England rate is 351.

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No further deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

Meanwhile, county council officials have said 87 care homes across the county have one or more positive covid cases.

Of the 235 care homes and extra care facilities in North Yorkshire, 64 have outbreaks, which is defined as two or more cases.

Two have confirmed a large outbreak, which is 10 or more infections – a drop from nine last week.

The number of staff and residents who have coronavirus have fallen to 143 from 258 last week.

Hospital admissions for people with coronavirus at Harrogate District Hospital have hit a record high.

Health bosses said today the hospital currently has 54 covid patients — 10 more than last week.

According to latest government hospital admissions data, which runs up to January 19, the previous high was 48 on January 13.

A total of 504 patients are being treated for covid across North Yorkshire’s hospitals in Harrogate, York, Scarborough and South Tees. Sixty-one are in intensive care.

By comparison, the same hospitals had 302 covid patients at the peak of the first lockdown last year.

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Amanda Bloor, accountable officer at North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, revealed the numbers at a press briefing today by North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which represents organisations fighting covid.

She said the numbers in hospital were “the highest they have ever been”.

Ms Bloor said the latest figures, including the UK reaching 100,000 covid deaths yesterday, should be a reminder of what the virus can do to communities. She added:

“How much more of a stark message do we need around North Yorkshire and York around the seriousness of the virus and the consequence that it can reek on our communities and our residents.

“Surely those facts alone, if nothing else, should focus everybody’s behaviour now on complying with the guidance.”

Harrogate hospital has suspended some non-emergency surgeries in an effort to free up bed space and staff to deal with patients.

Hospitals across the county have surge plans in place to deal with an increase in covid patients.

A trust spokesperson said the admissions figure given today was down on a few days ago.