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11

Nov 2020

Last Updated: 12/11/2020
Health
Health

Covid patients in Harrogate hospital nearly double in a week

by Calvin Robinson

| 11 Nov, 2020
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A total of 28 patients are being treated at Harrogate District Hospital, an increase of 13 on last week. The rise in infections across North Yorkshire has sparked fears the county could be placed in tier two post-lockdown.

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Harrogate District Hospital, Lancaster Park Road.

The number of patients being treated for coronavirus in Harrogate District Hospital has nearly doubled in a week.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, revealed at a media briefing today 28 people were currently being treated in the hospital - an increase of 13 on last week.

Hospital admissions in North Yorkshire as a whole are increasing sharply and are now approaching the peak of the first wave of the epidemic.

Currently 252 patients are in hospitals run by the three main NHS trusts in North Yorkshire, compared with 302 at the height of the pandemic.

Areas of the county have seen a dramatic increase in cases, with Scarborough reporting a weekly rate of 464 per 100,000 people - more than double last week.

Harrogate district is the next highest on 294 and North Yorkshire as a whole is now above the national average of 245.



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Richard Webb, director of adult social care at North Yorkshire County Council, warned there was a risk the county could face tougher restrictions than pre-lockdown when the tier system resumes.

Mr Webb told the press briefing of the North Yorkshire Resilience Forum, a partnership of agencies which responds to emergencies, it was important for people to do “all they can” to tackle the virus in the next three weeks.

He said:

“In two weeks time, the government will receive the data on the impact of the lockdown and we will also be assessing our data.
“As North Yorkshire, we went into the lockdown as tier one and that was the lowest level of alert. 
“However, as we see the cases at the moment, we have a real concern that we will face tougher restrictions coming out of the lockdown than we faced going into the lockdown.
“That’s why it is really important that we do all we can together to tackle this virus.”


The England lockdown is due to finish on December 2. The government has said the country will then return to a tier system.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health at the county council, welcomed the preliminary results of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer that has shown to be 90% effective in preliminary results.

Dr Sargeant said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the results but added there needed to be “long-term behavioural change” to overcome the virus.