North Yorkshire County Council will be able to carry out what it calls its biggest ever programme of highway maintenance with an extra £3.9 million in government funding.

In total, the Department for Transport has awarded the county £52.6 million to improve roads, pathways, cycle routes and to carry out infrastructure projects.

When the lockdown is lifted fully the council believes it will be in the best possible position to help people get back to work.

The council has drawn up more than 500 individual schemes across North Yorkshire with patching, surface dressing and resurfacing on the agenda.

Some of the locations include Gristhorpe Bypass, Filey, Leeds Road in Harrogate and several locations in Richmond.

Councillor Don Mackenzie, the Executive Member for Access, said:

“We welcome this additional funding from the Government, the second largest amount in Yorkshire as a whole. As England’s largest county, there are thousands of miles of footpaths and highways for us to maintain and this will allow for significant investment in our infrastructure.”

All the works will be undertaken while observing the Government’s social distancing measures aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19.

Earlier this week, the Government announced a £250 million emergency active travel fund as the first stage of a £2 billion investment.

The money will make improvements for cycling and walking such as wider pavements, safer junctions, and cycle and bus-only corridors.

Full details of how much will be allocated to each local authority are yet to be revealed, but councillor Mackenzie said: “We are already working on proposals with regard to this funding and hope to have more information in the near future.”

National Trust venues in the Harrogate district will remain closed to the public this weekend.

It means that Brimham Rocks and Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden, Ripon, will not be open for people to travel to as the trust plans a gradual reopening of its attractions in the coming weeks.

People are able to travel anywhere in the country to find a park or beach as the lockdown has been eased, but the trust said its decisions to open its venues will be guided by local judgement.

As part of the easing of lockdown restrictions, the trust plans to reopen some of its larger car parks for its attractions from May 21 to those who have pre-booked places.

People will be able to book parking spaces for venues on the National Trust website from Monday (May 18). Members will be able to book for free, but non-members will have to pay.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire Water confirmed that car parks at reservoirs across the district will still be closed this weekend.

Earler this week, the company warned that people should not travel to its reservoirs, such as Fewston and Scar House, until it has a plan to adapt to government guidance.

It comes as the head of Yorkshire Dales National Park hit out at the government after it gave the green light for people to travel to beauty spots.

Jade Edwards and Henry Stam were meant to tie the knot on May 9, at Rudding Park, but due to coronavirus, their big day has been postponed.

To make matters worse the couple weren’t even able to spend their ‘not wedding day’ together as Henry works as a doctor in A&E at Harrogate Hospital. Jade told the Stray Ferret that the whole thing has been very sad:

 It was meant to be such a special year, it’s just so sad… Henry has moved into an apartment in Harrogate as he is very much on the front line of the pandemic and we have an 11-month-old daughter so he didn’t want to put her or me at risk, so we couldn’t even spend the day together… a few other couples we know got dressed up and had a nice meal at home, but we couldn’t do that.

Henry isn’t very emotional, but even he said that at 1pm last Saturday he was looking at his watch thinking about where we should have been… But it’s out of our control, we will just have to look forward to next year.

The couple initially postponed the ceremony to the 4th July, but as time went out they realised that, even if it could go ahead then, that it wouldn’t be the wedding they wanted.

I didn’t want everyone to be in face mask or for my older relatives to not be able to come, so we thought it was best to just push it back until next year… The venue have been brilliant, they have just dealt with the whole thing for us, nothing was an issue.

Laura Lindsay who is a wedding planner in Harrogate, usually organises 50 weddings between April and September. She told the Stray Ferret that this is not something the industry ever imagined having to go through :

 Everything up until august is out of the window for most of my brides… and anyone who is holding out is looking at a different style of wedding day… this is no longer 100 guests it’s on a much smaller scale.

2020 brides will have bought their products, personalised them with their dates date, sent out invites… they are now having to do this twice which is an added expense.

With the majority of weddings this year being moved over to 2021 Laura advised that people secured their dates quickly. She went on to say:

I just want to remind you all when you’re feeling down that your wedding will happen and when it does it is going to be an amazing celebration,  there will be people that won’t of seen each other in such a long time and the whole day will be valued so much more.

Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any coronavirus deaths for a second day.

So far, 54 people have died at the hospital with the last two deaths on Sunday and Monday – however, that may change as the hospital updates its figures.

As of yesterday, Harrogate hospital has released 97 people after they recovered from coronavirus.

It comes as hospitals across England reported another 186 deaths.

The patients were aged between 15 and 99 years old. 10 of those, who were aged between 30 and 94, had no underlying health conditions.

Nearly a quarter of Harrogate care home deaths from the beginning of March involved coronavirus, new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows.

From March 6 to May 1 there were 221 deaths registered in the town’s care homes and, in the same period, 54 of those deaths involved covid-19.

This new data includes deaths where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate but was not necessarily the main cause of death.

Previously ONS data from the same period up to May 1 showed there had been 43 deaths in Harrogate’s care homes where coronavirus was recorded as the actual cause of death.

Now when the ONS also factors in deaths where COVID-19 was not necessarily the cause of death but involved, Harrogate’s care homes have had 54 deaths – a 25% increase.

The difficulty in establishing the extent of the crisis in Harrogate’s care homes

The new statistics have also revealed the challenge of recording deaths in care homes, where people may already be on end of life care.

Southlands care home in Harrogate has faced that challenge after recording six confirmed coronavirus deaths but a further 16 of its residents died before testing was available.

Sandra Hustwick, Regional Director for Southlands care home said:

“Very sadly, we have lost six residents who tested positive for COVID-19. A further sixteen residents passed away before testing was available, though a number of these were expected as they’d been receiving end of life care prior to the outbreak.

“The past months have been exceptionally challenging but the team has pulled together to deliver the best possible care and our home has been entirely free of COVID-19 for the past two weeks. Our thoughts are with the loved ones of those affected. I would like to say thank you to residents’ friends and families, as well as the wider community, who’ve all been so supportive.”

Staff from Ashville College in Harrogate have been busy making scrubs and other PPE for two of the town’s care homes.

The volunteer group makes the items for Heath Lodge, on Pannal Ash Road, and Berwick Grange, on Wetherby Road.

It comes after the college donated around 200 pairs of safety glasses from its science department to frontline hospital staff treating patients with coronavirus.

The volunteers are led by Caroline Beer, Annie Wilcockson, Sarah Mansfield, Helen Thompson, Elizabeth Pennington, and Lynn Conway.

Collectively, the team has made scrubs, scrub bags, face masks, and headbands, to keep health workers’ ears comfortable from hours of mask wearing.

They have also produced artwork of fictional characters to support children’s storytelling at Harrogate District Hospital.

Caroline Beer said: “We all bring different skills to the mix and our pooled talents are benefitting employees and residents at Heath Lodge and Berwick Grange, and young patients at Harrogate District Hospital. We have set up a ‘gofundme’ page to help pay for materials.”

The materials produced so far have been created using donated fabrics and now the team has also set up a gofundme page to raise money for more materials. The Busy Bees plan to continue production for as long as possible to provide vital PPE items to local care homes in need.

Following a donation this week of items to staff at Berwick Grange, Administration Manager, Phoebe Rahtmell said:

“I would like to say a huge thank you for the uniform bags and head bands that were very kindly made and donated to Berwick Grange Care Home. This was a very thoughtful gesture and I would like to pass on our gratitude to everybody involved as I imagine a vast amount of time went into making them all.”

Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any more coronavirus deaths and has this week discharged 15 more patients.

In total, the hospital has now released 97 people who have recovered from coronavirus but 54 people have died at the hospital since the start of the pandemic.

Weekly data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also reveals how many people have died outside of hospitals. That number has been rising higher in recent weeks and is close to overtaking Harrogate hospital’s deaths.

This data goes up to May 1 and shows that there have been 48 deaths outside of hospitals. Of those, 43 deaths have been in Harrogate’s care homes, with the others in private homes or “other communal establishments.”

A Liberal Democrat councillor has attacked what he calls “confusing in the extreme” messages from the local and central government on lockdown easing.

People have every right to go out and explore as long as they follow social distancing rules but North Yorkshire County Council is reluctant to welcome visitors.

Boris Johnson said earlier this week that people in England can exercise as many times as they wish and drive to outdoor spaces “as long as they respect social distancing guidance while they are there.”

One of the Liberal Democrat’s councillors at the county council, Geoff Webber, saw the mixed messages and sent the following message to the Chief Executive Richard Flinton:

“This is confusing in the extreme.  The PM has said, on record, that ‘people in England can travel as far as they like to reach outdoor spaces – including beaches and parks for sunbathing and non-team sports.’  I may not agree with the rule but this is what is coming from our Conservative government. This is a Conservative council and if they cannot get their act together with a Conservative national government then it is a very poor show. So much for the special relationship with Tory MPs.”

The conservative run North Yorkshire County Council has, however, warned that it will “monitor the number of pedestrians” and said it “may have to close more roads to protect the public.”

Chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, Richard Flinton, said:

“Please adhere to any ‘no parking’ and ‘road closed’ signs you come across and ask yourself if it’s worth it. Why not do the right thing and protect yourself and your family by staying close to home. Everything will still be here when it’s safe to welcome you back and we are really grateful for your patience and support.”

Many took up the opportunity to explore enthusiastically and by midday yesterday there were already 50 cars parked up on the verges around Swinsty reservoir.

Heavy-duty machinery and plenty of workers are on the Stray as part of drainage and reseeding works to restore the park.

Harrogate Borough Council estimates that the work will cost close to £130,000 and that it will be complete by this September.

Yorkshire 2019, the organisers of the UCI Road World Championships, has agreed to pay £35,500 to help restore the Stray.

However, two local contractors have criticised the council for outsourcing the work to Glendale Services.

A charity has launched a raffle online as part of its fundraising efforts to help staff and patients at Harrogate District Hospital.

The raffle is now live with £2 tickets and all the proceeds going towards funding specialist equipment, training, and improvement of facilities.

Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity is hosting the raffle and will reveal the winners at the start of July.

The charity said that coronavirus is challenging staff but added that they are working “extremely hard during this unprecedented time.”

Here are some of the prizes on offer:

• Two Directors Suite tickets to Leeds Rhinos
• Seven Amazon Fires HD with Alexa
• Neom 3 wick candle
• FAIRFAX & FAVOR Tassels
• Lots of packs of 12 250ml Slingsby solo Gin ready mixed bottles
• A bouquet of Helen James Flowers
• An exquisite unique hand-painted duck egg Birdcage

The top prize is the Leeds Rhino Match Day Experience which includes a pair of tickets as guests of the Leeds Rhinos Directors Club valued at around £400.

Business Development, Charity and Volunteer Manager, Sammy Lambert, said:

“A huge thank you to all the local businesses and individuals who are supporting our online raffle. We are hoping it proves popular and supports our important work raising funds for all the departments and services at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust.

“By entering our raffle, people are helping us do more for our colleagues, patients and their families during this difficult time. We are extremely grateful to members of the public who have been fundraising for Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity for supporting their local NHS.”