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02
Jun 2021
Covid infections 'creeping up', say North Yorkshire health officials
Health officials say there are early signs covid infection levels are “creeping up” in North Yorkshire, although rates remain low, ahead of the key decision on whether to end all restrictions on June 21.
Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, told a briefing today that the county was “giving every inch of its fibre” to fully unlock on that date but a small rise in cases needed to be brought “under control”.
Harrogate, Scarborough, Hambleton and Craven all saw a slight increase in weekly infection rates at the end of May, while Richmondshire and Selby recorded a decline and Ryedale remained without a single case.
Meanwhile, the number of people hospitalised with covid across the county remains low at 10, while more than 494,000 people have now received their first vaccine and 339,000 their second.
Read more:
- Total number of vaccinations given in Harrogate district near 180,000
- ‘They’re only trying to help us’: GPs face verbal abuse over delays for non-covid services
Speaking at today’s North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum briefing, Mr Webb said:
Indian variant
Today’s briefing also heard how the so-called Indian variant of covid, now known as Delta, was still in “small numbers” in North Yorkshire and had not become the dominant strain unlike some areas of the country.
Areas including Bolton, Blackburn and Bedford have seen a large spike in cases of the more transmissible variant which has led to some concerns that there could be a delay to the end of all lockdown restrictions set to be decided by ministers on 14 June.
With this recent rise in cases, the next week or two will be crucial in seeing whether and by how much it pushes up the numbers of hospital admissions and deaths.
The difference this time – compared with previous waves – is the vaccine, which should be breaking the link between infection and illness.
Mr Webb added:
The latest Public Health England data shows Scarborough had an infection rate of 24 cases per 100,000 people on May 29, while the figure for Harrogate stood at 17, Craven 16, Selby 13, Hambleton 13, Richmondshire 4 and Ryedale 0.
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