199 more covid cases recorded today in Harrogate district

The Harrogate district has reported a further 199 cases today, Public Health England has confirmed.

Yesterday saw a record high since the start of the pandemic when 202 cases were reported.

The district’s seven-day covid rate continues to rise sharply and currently stands at 682 per 100,000.

The North Yorkshire average is 509 and the England rate stands at 406.

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No further covid deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital, according to latest NHS England figures.

Harrogate District Hospital is currently treating 18 covid patients — the most since March this year when the hospital was recovering from its busiest coronavirus period

Most daily covid infections ever in Harrogate district

The Harrogate district has reported another record high for daily covid cases.

A further 202 cases were confirmed today by Public Health England. The figure surpasses the previous high of 191 on October 11.

The district’s seven-day covid rate now stands at 637 per 100,000.

The North Yorkshire average is 504 and the England rate stands at 395.

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No further covid deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital, according to latest NHS England figures.

Harrogate District Hospital is currently treating 18 covid patients — the most since March this year when the hospital was recovering from its busiest coronavirus period

Harrogate district has highest covid rate in Yorkshire

The Harrogate district now has the highest covid infection rate in Yorkshire after another rise in cases beyond record levels.

The district’s weekly rate per 100,000 people currently stands at 630, according to the latest Public Health England figures.

The rate is the 19th highest in England and well above the country’s average of 366.

It equates to almost 150 new infections each day. However, hospitalisations and deaths remain stable when compared with previous waves.

As of last Tuesday, there were 13 covid patients at Harrogate District Hospital.

Patient numbers there previously peaked at 67 in January.

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The last time the hospital reported a covid-related death was on September 30 when its toll since the pandemic began reached 189, according to NHS figures.

The Harrogate district’s latest weekly infection rate of 630 cases per 100,000 people is another record for the district, which has seen cases climb steadily since mid-September.

Prior to this period, the previous record was 534 on 18 July.

Speaking recently, Louise Wallace, director of public health for North Yorkshire, said the rise in infections in Harrogate and across the county was being “driven by school-age children”.

The latest figures for Harrogate show infections are highest among five to 19-year-olds, although cases among 40 to 49-year-olds are also high.

Harrogate district covid rate rises above 600

The Harrogate district seven-day covid rate has risen above 600 for the first time after another 141 infections were confirmed today by Public Health England.

The gap between infection rates in the district and the county and national averages continues to widen. The North Yorkshire rate is 456 and the England rate is 357.

The district with the next highest rate in the county is Craven, at 494.

Harrogate West and Pannal Ash has recorded the most cases within the district in the lasts even days, with 66.

Knaresborough Central has recorded the fewest, with 22.

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Harrogate district covid rate remains highest in North Yorkshire

The Harrogate district’s seven-day covid rate remains the highest in North Yorkshire at 573 infections per 100,000 people.

The next highest in the county is Craven, at 480. The countywide average is 444 and the rate for England it is 348.

Public Health England today reported a further 156 cases in the Harrogate district, which takes the total since the pandemic began to 17,644.

Elsewhere, 129,408 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 120,863 have had a second dose.

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Harrogate district covid rate finally declines

The Harrogate district average covid rate has fallen after soaring in recent weeks to record levels.

Another 95 infections were recorded today by Public Health England.

It brought the weekly rate down to 560 per 100,000 people after it yesterday reached 580 — the highest it has been at any time.

The district’s rate still remains well above the North Yorkshire average of 451 and the England average of 336.

Killinghall and Hampsthwaite has recorded 71 infections in the last seven days, which is the most in the district. Ouseburn, Hammerton and Tockwith is next with 70.

At the other end of the scale, Stray has had just 25 cases, which is the fewest in the district. Menwith, Beckwithshaw and Denton Moor has had 26.

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Harrogate district continues to set new coronavirus rate record

The Harrogate district’s coronavirus seven day rate continues to climb after it hit a record high earlier this week.

According to latest Public Health England figures, the district average has increased to 580 cases per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire rate stands at 470 and the England average is 339.

However, just nine patients are being treated for coronavirus at Harrogate District Hospital. That number has remained much lower during previous waves before the vaccination programme.

No further deaths from patients who tested positive for coronavirus have been recorded at Harrogate District Hospital.

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Elsewhere, 128,232 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 120,511 have had a second dose.

North Yorkshire’s director of public health, Louise Wallace, said this week that the spike in covid cases is down to “school-age children”.

She also said it was “quite unusual” that the county’s infection rate had climbed above the England average.

Harrogate district has highest covid rate in North Yorkshire

The Harrogate district’s seven-day covid rate has increased to 457 per 100,000 people, which is the highest in North Yorkshire.

Selby is second highest in the county with a rate of 418 and the average rate for England is 310.

Meanwhile, a further 143 covid cases have been reported in the district, according to today’s Public Health England figures.

This week Harrogate District Hospital recorded another death of a patient who tested positive for covid.

It takes the death toll from covid at the hospital since March 2020 to 188.

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Harrogate district care homes fear job crisis over mandatory jabs

Care homes in the Harrogate district have sounded the alarm over a looming recruitment crisis over mandatory coronavirus vaccinations for staff.

Government legislation requiring all care home staff and volunteers to have had both jabs comes into force on November 11.

With the date approaching, the health watchdog Healthwatch North Yorkshire conducted a survey of 16 care homes in North Yorkshire and York about the impact of the legislation.

Most care homes supported the sentiment but expressed concerns about its impact.

The social care sector was experiencing staff shortages pre-pandemic and there are concerns that after a tough couple of years, mandatory vaccines will create another recruitment barrier.

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One care home told Healthwatch it expected to lose staff; another said it had been forced to turn down candidates and a third said it had created a bureaucratic burden on already overstretched staff.

The Coach House Nursing Home in Ripon said in the report:

“I do not agree with making vaccinations mandatory just for those working in a care home, while leaving it entirely open to any friend or relative of a resident to visit without vaccinations.

“This is yet another recruitment hurdle for providers to try to overcome along with the additional administrative burden in policing, enforcing and maintaining records of compliance.

“The impact of this legislation could be huge and widely felt, restricting agreed contractors, maintenance and servicing personnel, along with the effect on the hospitality side of care homes.”

Ashley Green, chief executive of Healthwatch North Yorkshire and Siân Balsom, Healthwatch York manager said in a joint statement:

“The concerns we’ve heard from care home managers aren’t a surprise, but some are very stark in their warnings of the impact of mandatory vaccinations.

“Care homes we spoke to question the decision where all healthcare staff and care home visitors don’t have to be vaccinated. There was strong sentiment that this is being seen as further unfair treatment of an undervalued sector.

“There is an irony that while almost all the care homes we spoke to recognise the importance of the vaccinations to protect vulnerable people, the new rules might put residents at risk due to staff shortages and low morale.”

Most acute recruitment crisis ever

The National Care Forum, which is the membership organisation for not-for-profit organisations in the care sector, has today written an open later to the government asking for support with what is describes as the worst job crisis in the sector’s history.

MHA, the UK’s largest charity care provider which has two care homes in Harrogate, is among the signatories of the letter.

The letter said:

“This is the most acute recruitment and retention crisis that we are aware of historically.

“It is the result of many years of underfunding in the sector, compounded by a number of other factors.

“That is including some staff exhausted from the pandemic and others moving to the NHS due to different approaches on mandatory vaccine regulations.”

The NCF called on the government to offer a retention bonus to care staff, welcome staff from overseas and launch a national recruitment campaign.

Ripon Racecourse to reopen as vaccine centre

Ripon Racecourse will reopen as a covid vaccination centre and Knaresborough’s York Road site will relocate for the vaccine booster programme.

The rollout of third doses to around 30 million people across the UK began this week.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for the NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said Ripon Racecourse will reopen as a vaccination centre and that Knaresborough’s York Road site at the former Lidl supermarket will move to the town’s Chain Lane Community Hub.

Speaking at a meeting of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum today, Ms Bloor said these sites would help increase capacity and that other venues were being confirmed by NHS England.

She said:

“We are going to have a mix of venues delivering the booster programme – some of our practice sites will be delivering the vaccines and in addition there will also be a number of community pharmacy sites across North Yorkshire.

“The community pharmacy sites are managed by NHS England and are currently undergoing a site assurance process.

The old Lidl vaccination site in Knaresborough is relocating to the Chain Lane Community Hub from Tuesday. It will mean this site can significantly increase capacity.

Ripon Racecourse closed as a vaccination centre in July after being used for the first phase of the rollout, while Knaresborough’s York Road site is still being used.

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The rollout of booster jabs follows a recommendation from the government’s vaccine advisers, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which said third doses should be given at least six months after a person has had their second – with the Pfizer-BioNTech jab recommended.

The recommendations come amid concern about waning immunity, with JCVI saying that it wanted to take the precautionary approach of boosters to ensure the most vulnerable people maintain high levels of protection.

Those eligible for the booster jabs include over-50s, younger adults with health conditions and frontline health and care workers.

Patients will be invited on a priority basis and they have been urged not to contact the NHS, but to wait to hear from the health service.

Ms Bloor added:

“The booster programme will be delivered as it was in phase one with the most vulnerable being invited first, so care home residents will be prioritised.

“Cohorts one to nine, in order, will be invited for a booster no earlier than six months from their second dose. The boosters will be by appointment only and there won’t be a drop-in service at this point.