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29
Sept 2021
Rise in covid cases ‘being driven by school-age children’, says public health boss
The sharp rise in coronavirus cases in North Yorkshire is “being driven by school-age children”, the county’s director of public health has said.
Louise Wallace told a meeting of the North Yorkshire Outbreak Management Advisory Board today that case numbers have been climbing since mid-September with most infections among school children and other young people.
She also said it was “quite unusual” that the county’s infection rate had climbed above the England average.
Ms Wallace said.
Schools and colleges returned at the start of September and twice-weekly testing is being used to limit infections, while rules on social distancing and face masks have been scrapped.
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Ms Wallace said headteachers were receiving continued support from public health teams and that she was hopeful the increase in infections would ease over the coming weeks.
She said:
The latest figures show North Yorkshire’s weekly infection rate per 100,000 people currently stands 452 – above the England average of 332.
A breakdown of the numbers shows the Harrogate district has the highest infection rate after this week surpassing its previous record of 559 in July to reach 547.
Meanwhile the Harrogate district has recorded a further 128 per 100,000 people, according to latest Public Health England figures.
Elsewhere, 128,163 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 120,343 have had a second dose.
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