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29
Dec 2020
Will Harrogate district change tier in tomorrow's review?
Another government tier review is scheduled for tomorrow amid rising coronavirus cases across the country.
The Harrogate district avoided harsher restrictions in last week's review and stayed in tier two, despite other areas being placed in tier four.
However, the district has seen a gradual increase in both infections and the R number since then.
There has also been talk of tougher restrictions everywhere to combat the new mutant strain of the virus.
North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which represents agencies that combat covid, has called an urgent media briefing tomorrow to respond to rising transmissions rates and Health Secretary Matt Hancock's tier announcement.
Rising case rates
The Harrogate district’s seven-day infection rate has increased since the last tier review on December 23 but remains the lowest in the county.
Last week, the district reported a rate of 86 infections per 100,000 people. That has risen to 115.
Read more:
- The Stray Ferret looks back at the effort to build the Harrogate Nightingale
- R number rises to 1 in Harrogate district
But there is widespread concern about soaring rates elsewhere in the county, which could drag all of North Yorkshire into a higher tier.
Recently, public health bosses expressed concerns about Scarborough’s rate. But the borough’s rate, which was the highest in the county last week at 264, has since dropped to 215.
Hambleton, however, has seen its rate rocket from 100 to 242, according to the most recent figures.
The county-wide average stands at 165, which is still below the national rate.
By comparison, Peterborough, which is in tier four, has a rate of 412 cases per 100,000 people.
The Harrogate district's much lower rate gives hope it may again escape being moved up a tier.
Hospital admissions
There is widespread national concern about the rise in covid hospital admissions.
Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, warned the country was "back in the eye of the storm" after figures showed that 20,426 patients were being treated in hospitals on Monday.
The number is an increase on 18,976 recorded on April 12 during the peak of the first lockdown.
Locally, most recent figures show 14 covid patients are currently being treated at Harrogate District Hospital.
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