Harrogate Town said tonight it has postponed the club’s next three games after players in the squad tested positive for coronavirus.

It will mean tomorrow night’s Carabao Cub fixture against Rochdale at the EnviroVent Stadium will not go ahead as planned.

Two trips in League Two to Crawley Town and Leyton Orient are also off, which were due to be played on August 14 and August 17 respectively.

The club said this evening that “a number of individuals” are unable to play or train due to a positive test or contact with someone who has tested positive.

If Harrogate Town are unable to re-arrange the cup fixture against Rochdale before the next round then they would have to forfeit the tie.

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Those who purchased a ticket for the Rochdale game will receive a full refund if it cannot go ahead.

A spokesperson for the club said:

“Due to positive covid cases within our playing squad, our next three fixtures have been postponed, including tomorrow’s Carabao Cup fixture against Rochdale at The EnviroVent Stadium.

“Our SkyBet League Two trips to Crawley Town and Leyton Orient on Saturday 14th and Tuesday 17th August have also been postponed.

“In respect of rescheduling the Carabao Cup game, the League will consider any proposal put forward by the Club as under the rules, if a fixture is not able to be re-arranged ahead of the following round, then a club would have to forfeit the tie.

“It means a number of individuals are unable to play or train due to either a positive test or the requirement to self-isolate in line with government and English Football League guidance.

“The club will continue to work with covid protocols as set out by the EFL to ensure the safety of our players and staff.

“All supporters who had purchased a ticket for our Carabao Cup fixture will receive a full refund should the game not be rearranged, or their ticket will be valid for the new date of the fixture.”

Public Health England figures show that the Harrogate district has recorded another 54 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day rate is now at 280 per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire rate stands at 262 and the England average is 291.5.

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However, Harrogate District Hospital has not reported a covid-related death in nearly four months. The last time a death was recorded was on April 11.

It means the covid death toll at the hospital since March 2020 remains at 179.

123,253 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 106,664 have had a second dose.

Public Health England figures show that the Harrogate district has recorded another 77 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours.

The number of cases have remained steady in recent days. The district’s seven-day rate is now at 262 per 100,000 people.

Elsewhere, the North Yorkshire rate stands at 249 and the England average is 283.

Harrogate District Hospital has not reported a covid-related death in nearly four months. The last time a death was recorded was on April 11.

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It means the covid death toll at the hospital since March 2020 remains at 179.

However, latest figures show that the hospital is treating seven covid patients.

Elsewhere, 123,238 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 106,664 have had a second dose.

A breakdown of covid deaths for each care home in North Yorkshire has revealed five of the 10 worst affected are in the Harrogate district.

The new figures released by the Care Quality Commission, which regulates care homes, revealed 18 care homes in the county reported a total of 515 resident deaths during the course of the pandemic.

Health officials said the results “bring into stark relief the ravages” of the virus.

Five of the 10 care homes worst affected during the pandemic were in the Harrogate district. These included three in Harrogate, one in Knaresborough and another in Scotton.

Top 10 worst affected care homes in North Yorkshire:

• Craven Nursing Home Limited, Skipton – 24 deaths
• Southlands Care Home, Harrogate – 22 deaths
• Leeming Bar Grange Care Home, Leeming Bar – 22 deaths
• Belmont House Care Home, Harrogate – 22 deaths
• Beechwood Care Home, Northallerton – 21 deaths
• Bilton Hall Nursing Home, Knaresborough – 17 deaths
• Maple Lodge Care Home, Scotton – 17 deaths
• The Terrace, Richmond – 16 deaths
• Scorton Care Village, Scorton – 16 deaths
• Vida Grange, Harrogate – 15 deaths

Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“Every death from covid during the course of this terrible pandemic has been one death too many.”

“The death toll in care homes over the last 20 months, published by the Care Quality Commission, brings into stark relief the ravages of covid and the price we have paid as a society and that we continue to pay.

“All the families and friends who have lost loved ones to the virus are very much in our hearts and in our thoughts.”

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Care home managers must inform the CQC when one of their residents dies. From April last year they also had to say whether covid was believed to be a factor in the person’s death.

The newly published data is based on these notifications.

No link between care standards and deaths

The CQC said in its report that it has not found a link between standards of care and the number of deaths – something local health officials have also stressed.

The social care watchdog said contributing factors included the levels of covid in the local community and the age and health of the residents.

The struggle for PPE and hospital patients being discharged into homes without getting tested were also thought to contributors to the virus spreading quickly.

And although it is now widely available, testing was said to be a “critical” issue at the start of the outbreak with some test kits taking up to 20 days to be delivered to North Yorkshire care homes.

Mr Webb praised social care staff for their “heroic efforts” during the pandemic:

“Staff have worked heroically to contain the virus as best they could. We are grateful to staff in care homes as well as our own authorities who showed courage and bravery in doing all they could to protect our residents, working tirelessly during such a difficult period.

“We will never know, if we had not taken swift action supported by colleagues in the care sector in those early days, how many more would have died.”

The Harrogate district’s covid rate has begun to increase again after another 74 infections were confirmed today.

The weekly rate had fallen rapidly from 534 cases per 100,000 people on July 18 to 247 cases yesterday.

But after a spate of infections in recent days the district’s rate now stands at 267, which is above the North Yorkshire rate of 257 but below the England rate of 282.

Data from Public Health England also showed that a total of 229,143 people in the district have had covid vaccines and 123,145 have received one dose.

Currently, eight people are in Harrogate District Hospital for coronavirus treatment and no deaths from covid have been recorded at the hospital for almost four months.

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Knaresborough’s coronavirus vaccine centre is ramping up its walk-in clinics as it prepares to host a total of 21 in August.

The programme starts tomorrow, when the centre will be open between 8am and 3pm. From Wednesday to Saturday the centre will be open between 8am and 5pm.

That will be the same all month. The centre will be open most days in the week between 8am and 5pm except for Mondays and Sundays.

While appointments are still available, the option to “grab a jab” by just turning up has made a difference for the vaccine centre.

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Jason Baskind, of Homecare Pharmacy Services which runs the site, told the Stray Ferre:

“We are getting a lot coming in for the walk-in sessions. I would say on average around 100 extra people turn up without an appointment.

“By around mid September we should have given everyone over 18 who wants a jab both doses of the coronavirus vaccine.

“Shortly after that we expect to be starting the booster programme. So that would make things easier.”

As of yesterday, the Harrogate district has given out 104,995 second doses and 123,009 first doses according to government figures.

Just 45 covid infections have been recorded in the Harrogate district — the lowest 24-hour figure since June 26.

Today’s data, from Public Health England, reduces the district’s seven-day average rate of infection to 260 per 100,000 people.

The rate peaked at 534 on July 18 and has more than halved in the fortnight since.

The current rates for England and North Yorkshire are 291 and 260 respectively.

Harrogate West and Pannal has had the most infections in the district in the last seven days, with 42, followed by Ripon South and East with 35.

At the other end of the scale Pateley Bridge and Nidd Valley has had just 12 cases.

There has not been a covid-related death at Harrogate District Hospital for almost four months now.

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The district has recorded another 69 new covid cases in the last 24 hours, according to today’s Public Health England figures.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate has fallen to 270 cases per 100,000 people.

Elsewhere, the North Yorkshire rate stands at 268 and the England average is 295.

Harrogate District Hospital has not reported a covid-related death in three-and-a-half months.

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It means the covid death toll at the hospital since March 2020 remains at 179.

Latest figures show that the hospital is treating nine covid patients compared with just three a week ago.

Elsewhere, 122,817 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 103,654 have had a second dose.

The number of coronavirus patients at Harrogate District Hospital has tripled in the last week, a media briefing heard this morning.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer at NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, told North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum the hospital was treating nine patients compared with three seven days ago.

However, the number remains well below the 67 patients the hospital was treating at the height of the second wave in February.

Ms Bloor added the increase has been mirrored across the county:

“Unfortunately the number of patients does continue to rise. As of yesterday, there were 136 patients across our hospitals in North Yorkshire and York.

“This is up from a figure of 112 this time last week – and 16 of those 136 patients are in intensive care.

“If the number of patients with covid does continue to rise, it could have an impact on our hospitals’ ability to carry out planned procedures.

“We are not seeing that significantly at the moment but we do just need to keep an eye on those numbers.”

A breakdown of the figures shows there are nine patients in both Harrogate and Scarborough hospitals, 26 in York and 92 in South Tees.

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There has not been a covid-related death at the Harrogate hospital in more than three months.

This is due to high levels of vaccine uptake but Ms Bloor said there was still work to do to ensure more people are protected, particularly the younger population.

She said: “The vaccination programme is now open to all age cohorts and is particularly focusing on the younger cohorts.

“With the easing of restrictions from July 19, it is potentially understandable that younger people may feel there is now no advantage of getting vaccinated but we are seeing some younger people in hospital with covid who are actually quite poorly.

“I would continue to urge everyone to come forward for their vaccination – it is the best method of protection.”

Infection rates falling

It comes as Harrogate’s weekly infection rate continues to fall. The rate reached a record high of 534 cases per 100,000 people on July 18 and now stands at 348.

Health officials believe the drop in cases across the country could be down to schools closing for the summer holidays and people meeting up outdoors due to the recent sunny weather.

What they have said for certain though is that the number of people being admitted to hospital with covid needs to start falling as well to show that the virus is really in decline.

Dr Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“The number of people in local hospitals with Covid over the last week has continued to increase, however, we do know that hospitalisation data does tend to lag a bit.

“If that starts to go down too, then we can start to be a bit happier that the decline in cases we are seeing at the moment is a real one.”