A further 37 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to the latest Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 1,473.

Meanwhile, 147 cases have been confirmed across North Yorkshire. The weekly rate for the county stands at 106 per 100,000 people, according to NHS Digital.

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The Harrogate district now has the highest weekly case rate in North Yorkshire, with 116 per 100,000 people in the week to October 10.

Yesterday, the district and wider county was placed under the lowest category of the government’s new three tier lockdown system.

It means the district continues to follow national restrictions, including the rule of six and 10pm curfew, but  no additional measures have been imposed.

Harrogate has been spared further restrictions with the news that it has been placed in the lowest category in the government’s new three-tier local lockdown system.

It means the district will continue to follow national measures, such as the rule of six, but will face no additional local restrictions.

Kevin Hollinrake, Conservative MP for Malton and Thirsk, confirmed this afternoon that North Yorkshire would be in the medium alert level of the new tier system.

Good news that we’re still in Medium Alert level (lowest) so current rules still apply in North Yorkshire, so, for example, can still go to a pub/restaurant in a group of 6 from up to 6 different households

— Kevin Hollinrake MP (@kevinhollinrake) October 12, 2020

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the new tier system earlier today, which will see millions of people in the north of England affected from 5pm on Wednesday.

Mr Johnson said:

“It is the narrow path we have to tread between the social and economic costs of a full lockdown and the massive human and indeed economic cost of an uncontained epidemic.

“I must warn the House the weeks and months ahead will continue to be difficult and will test the mettle of this country. I have no doubt at all that together we will succeed.”

According to figures released by North Yorkshire County Council today the Harrogate district has the highest rate of coronavirus cases of the seven district councils in North Yorkshire.

Currently, the Harrogate district has a seven-day coronavirus rate of 117 per 100,000 people and a total of 1,437 cases since the start of the pandemic.

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The government is set to announce tougher lockdown restrictions today for millions of people in northern England — but to what extent the Harrogate district will be affected remains unclear.

Pub closures and a ban on travel outside of restriction zones are on the cards for swathes of the north, as part of a new three-tier lockdown system.

While metro mayors Steve Rotheram in Liverpool and Andy Burnham in Manchester are threatening to rebel against the initiative, leaders in North Yorkshire have so far kept quiet.

The Stray Ferret today asked Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council whether the government had consulted them on the tier system, if they knew which tier the district was likely to be allocated and whether they agreed with it.

The borough council referred us to the county council, which had not replied by the time of publication.

Rising infection rates

Harrogate has a covid rate of 127.5 per 100,000 people. The figure for North Yorkshire as a whole is 101.9, according to NHS Digital.

Harrogate’s infection level is rated as high but nevertheless is well below the 689.1 figure for Nottingham or 578.7 in Liverpool.

Craven has the highest case rate in the county at 166 per 100,000. Ryedale stands at 102, Richmondshire at 109 and both Scarborough and Selby at 91.

The number of cases in the Harrogate district has increased sharply since the start of September. A further 42 cases were confirmed yesterday, taking the overall number to 1,412.

Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director at NHS England, said this morning the Harrogate Nightingale hospital will be asked to “mobilise to be ready to accept patients if necessary”.

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Harrogate’s Nightingale Hospital at Harrogate Convention Centre, Kings Road, has been asked to be ready to accept patients.

The Harrogate district relies heavily on hospitality trade and local businesses have been vocal about the impact of any further restrictions, and warned that Harrogate falling into the highest tier would “finish them off”.

Martin Greenhow, managing director of Mojo bars, told the Stray Ferret:

“We are currently sat on a precipice and we are going to fall. Things are so bad now, more measures would be inconsequential – we may even be better off closed. It is that dire. But we don’t want to close because we want to keep our staff in employment.”

Closure would be ‘disaster’

Peter Banks, managing director of Rudding Park Hotel and Spa and chair of the Harrogate Hospitality and Tourism Association, said if areas such as Leeds and Newcastle were locked down then it would have an impact on the district.

He said:

The government has invited councils in North Yorkshire to submit plans for a shake-up of local government in the county, which would see Harrogate Borough Council and other district authorities scrapped.

Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, invited leaders from North Yorkshire County Council and the seven districts to submit plans today.

It comes as ministers made it a requirement back in July that district councils and county council were abolished in favour of unitary councils before any devolution bid could be lodged.

The government said any unitary council plan would aim to be established by April 2023.

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County council bosses have already outlined plans for a single council for North Yorkshire alongside the City of York, while the districts have proposed two councils in the east and west of the county.

Both proposals would mean Harrogate Borough Council would no longer exist.

Now, council leaders will be able to submit the plans to government who will then consult with the public on a preferred option after each model has been considered.

Mr Jenrick said restructuring local government would help to save money and improve services.

He said:

“Councils in Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Somerset are already working on developing their locally-led unitary proposals and I am now giving them the opportunity to submit them for consideration.

“Where there is local support, changing the structure of local government can offer better value for money and improved services for residents. We have always been clear that any restructuring of local government must continue to be locally-led and will not involve top-down solutions from government.”

The decision comes as Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, had written to Mr Jenrick urging for clarity on the future of devolution.

Meanwhile, district leaders had called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to delay any devolution policy amid the coronavirus crisis.

A further 35 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to latest Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 1,337. The weekly case rate for the district stands at 120.6 per 100,000 population.

Meanwhile, county-wide a further 92 cases were confirmed, taking the total infections in North Yorkshire to 4,753.

It comes as North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of agencies that tackle emergencies, warned the county is at a “tipping point” amid increased cases earlier this week.

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Officials from the resilience forum expect Craven to be added to the government’s watchlist today after the district’s weekly case rate stands at 152.3.

Scarborough and Selby were added to the watchlist last month as “areas of concern”, but officials said the case rates in both districts have since decreased.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health at North Yorkshire County Council, urged people to stick to the rules in order to keep cases down this weekend.

He said:

“I know that many people are making a concerted effort and I am grateful for their sacrifices but unfortunately not everyone is sticking to the guidance that we know makes the difference.

“This is not about blaming or finger wagging. This is about fighting the virus, supporting our businesses, keeping our schools open and saving lives. I want to be very clear that while many people experience minor symptoms, for some residents who become infected they will sadly not recover. We will see more lives lost and I appeal again for everyone to show real restraint to help avoid that.

“This weekend people may be tempted to get together or meet at pubs and other places in larger groups to socialise. covid-19 thrives on a crowd and is easily transmitted when your guard is down. Please play your part and protect your friends and family.”

A task group designed to come up with a solution for care home visits met for the first time this week amid county-wide restrictions.

North Yorkshire County Council restricted visits to care homes throughout October following an increase in coronavirus cases.

It comes as 12 homes in the Harrogate district have so far reported outbreaks of coronavirus since the start of the second wave of infections.

The group, which is made up of care home managers, residents, family members and dementia experts, met online for the first time and said a flexible approach with risk assessments for individual people was needed.

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Richard Webb, director of adult care at the county council, had promised that the restrictions would be reviewed at the end of the month.

He said the meeting was positive and that the group wanted to find solutions for visiting.

Mr Webb said:

“This was a really positive meeting and members of the task group welcomed the opportunity to tell their personal stories of the hardship and impact in terms of people’s mental well-being of stopping visits.

“Everybody at that meeting also acknowledged the challenges of protecting residents from covid but showed great focus on finding solutions to enable visits if at all possible beyond October.

“My own preference is for regular covid testing for designated visitors. However, given the current capacity issues with the national testing programme, it is difficult to guarantee this approach will be practicable at the present time.”

The authority said that care homes are still encouraged to allow window visits for residents so that relatives can still see their loved ones.

Homes are also being urged to use telephones and other technology to allow residents to contact relatives.

Protesters gathered outside Andrew Jones’s office to urge the Harrogate MP to vote against the government’s Agriculture Bill.

Demonstrators staged a peaceful protest with placards amid fears the bill will open the door to low-standard meat from the United States.

It came as part of other protests by farmers and campaigners held around the North Yorkshire and the country. Campaigners also urged the five other North Yorkshire MPs, including Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith and Selby and Ainsty’s Nigel Adams, to vote against the bill.

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MPs are due to vote on the legislation on Monday when it returns to the House of Commons. The House of Lords recently voted for an amendment to require any any imported food products to meet UK standards.

Richard Sadler, volunteer organiser for Save British Farming in North Yorkshire, said the purpose of today’s demonstration was to call on MPs to “do the right thing”.

He said:

“We want to shine a spotlight on what our MPs are doing in our name.

“What we are asking Andrew Jones and other MPs is to do the right thing and vote for the amendment to the Agriculture Bill.

“This is symbolic, but it is all we can do to bring attention to what is going on.”

Philip Knight, a teacher from Shaw Mills, was among the protesters outside Mr Jones’s office this afternoon. He said he was worried that the government would make a mistake by passing the bill.

Mr Knight said:

“Personally, I’m worried that because of Brexit and a frenzy for a trade deal that the government is going to make some mistakes and lower food standards in this country which will affect not only what we eat but the livelihoods of farmers.”

The Stray Ferret approached Andrew Jones for a comment on the demonstration, but received no response.

Alongside today’s protest, farmers demonstrated in Stokesley and Swindon where tractors were driven through the towns with placards which read “save British food”.

Another 48 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours.

The figure is double the daily rise of 24 reported yesterday.

Today’s figure from Public Health England takes the total amount of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 1,302.

A total of 133 cases have been confirmed county-wide today.

The weekly rate for North Yorkshire up to October 5 stands at 102.3 per 100,000 population.

North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of agencies that tackle emergencies, has warned the county is at a “tipping point” amid increased infections.

Richard Flinton, chief executive at North Yorkshire County Council and chair of the forum, said in a newsletter today the county was in a “more serious position” than last week.

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He said:

“Infections of covid continue to rise across the county – as they do in many areas – and specifically in the north of England. 

“We are by no means in the perilous position of some of our close neighbours, but, unfortunately, without an urgent, sustained and collective effort from everyone – we are heading that way.”

Meanwhile, the government announced £60 million funding for police and local councils today to step up enforcement of covid restrictions as a result of increased cases.

Harrogate Borough Council has been allocated nearly £58,000, while the Office of the North Yorkshire Police, Crime and Fire Commissioner has been handed £291,987.

Cybercrime, anti-social behaviour, road safety and burglary are the four priority areas for police in the Harrogate district, according to North Yorkshire’s Police, Crime and Fire Commissioner.

The priority areas are revealed in Policing and Crime Annual Report 2019/20, which will be scrutinised by North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel next week.

Cybercrime incidents rose from 131 to 200 in 12 months, representing a 52% increase.

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But the number of road safety, burglary and anti-social behaviour incidents all fell.

Burglary fell by 5%, anti-social behaviour by 8% and road incidents by nearly 20%.

A spokesperson for Julia Mulligan, the police, fire and crime commissioner for North Yorkshire, said the four areas would remain as priorities for police over the next year as set out in the commissioner’s police plan.

North Yorkshire Police faces a reduction in income this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The force has forecast a shortfall of £1.3 million due to loss of income from speed vans, prosecutions and sports events during the crisis.

Michael Porter, chief finance officer at the commissioner’s office, told a meeting of the police, fire and crime panel last month that the public sector faced “significant areas of concern”.

He said:

“I think it would would be no surprise if I were to say that it is challenging times for all public sector organisations and organisations wider than that and some of that will start to play through into some of the financial reports.”

Harrogate Borough Council has been allocated £57,951 today as part of government attempts to enforce coronavirus restrictions.

The government has awarded £60 million to councils and police forces across the country.

North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has been allocated £291,987 as part of the deal.

Councils are expected to use the money for compliance and enforcement, such as recruiting covid marshals, carrying out inspections, issuing fines and closing premises in the case of non-compliance.

Although covid marshals will not have any enforcement powers, government guidance says they should “engage, explain and encourage best practice and national covid secure guidance”.

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Last month, the borough council said it had received no detail on covid marshals so could not plan for how they could be used in the district.

A council spokesman said: “In partnership with the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, the development of any scheme is still under review.”

The government also said the funding would allow police to increase patrols in town centres and ensure that people are complying with the new restrictions, particularly in high-risk areas.

Julia Mulligan, North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, said more clarity was needed on the guidance before plans could be put in place.

She said:

““With an area as large and diverse as North Yorkshire and York, it is likely what’s needed in one place will be very different to another so it’s important we get that right.

“We now have some information from government, but we await more clarity so we can progress the plans.”

Robert Jenrick, local government secretary, said:

“Councils play a crucial role in protecting people’s safety, supporting businesses and helping the public to better understand the guidance. This new funding will ensure they can step this up further and continue to act proactively.”

Officials at North Yorkshire’s Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of public agencies that responds to emergencies, has warned that the county faced a “tipping point” amid increased infections.

In Harrogate, the weekly case rate stands at 97.6 per 100,000 people and the district saw a further 24 coronavirus cases confirmed yesterday.

The highest rate in the county is in Craven at 136.5. Local resilience forum officials expect the district to be added to the government’s coronavirus watchlist this week.