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16
Sept 2020
North Yorkshire declares covid emergency
The group of organisations coordinating North Yorkshire's response to coronavirus announced today it has gone back into full emergency mode.
North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum said it had taken the action in response to rising infection rates, particularly in the Harrogate and Selby districts, as well as concerns about care home transmission and testing capacity.
Richard Flinton, who is chair of the forum and chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, said "positive tests in Harrogate remain a worry".
He added the council was "extremely keen to avoid enforced lockdowns if that is possible".
Mr Flinton said:
Mr Flinton said the county council would reinstate major incident status for covid. He added:
Superintendent Mike Walker, gold commander for North Yorkshire Police’s response to covid, said officers in patrol cars were encouraging people to follow the rules, using enforcement as a last resort.
Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health for North Yorkshire, said testing was being hampered by "significant limitations" with laboratory capacity. He added:
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