The Bishop of Ripon has written to five MPs asking for the removal of a requirement for care home residents to isolate for 14 days if they leave their homes.

The Rt Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley’s intervention comes after Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, also expressed concerns about the issue.

The more restrictive guidance for care homes was issued shortly after restrictions eased on the hospitality sector last week and non-essential shops were allowed to reopen.

The five MPs who received the letter included local Conservatives Andrew Jones, Nigel Adams and Julian Smith. It says:

“I am very concerned indeed about the impact on the physical and mental well-being, and indeed the human rights of individuals of diverse ages and vulnerabilities.

“I note that John’s Campaign for example focuses on principles and attitudes rather than procedures and protocols.

“With that in mind, I ask what sort of society we wish to be as we emerge from the pandemic crisis?

“Given that it is further likely we will be living with covid for a long time, it is of grave concern that our most vulnerable citizens will be treated in such a restrictive way.

“That has, in my opinion, a corrosive impact on our society and has implications that far outlast our own lives.”

Read more:

• North Yorkshire health boss challenges care home isolation guidance
• Firefighters called after Harrogate BBQ sets alight petrol can

Last week a care home run by Disability Action Yorkshire on Claro Road, Harrogate, said it would defy the guidance because it was a “clear breach” of human rights.

Jackie Snape, chief executive of the charity, has written to Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones, warning he will receive furious e-mails as a result of the guidance.

She said:

“For the people that live at 34 Claro Road this is devastating. They are young people who just want to have the same freedoms as everyone else.

“They are seeing pictures of groups enjoying a beer outside the pub and they are being told they can’t even go for a walk around the block.”

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Harrogate District Hospital has gone a week without reporting a death from a patient who tested positive for covid.

According to NHS England figures up to April 18, the last death recorded at the hospital was on April 11.

The death toll at the hospital since last March remains at 179.

Read more:

• Harrogate care home residents furious at covid isolation guidance
• North Yorkshire health boss challenges care home isolation guidance

Meanwhile, a further eight covid cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district according to Public Health England statistics.

It takes the total number of infections since the start of the pandemic to 7,638.

Elsewhere, the district’s seven-day covid rate has increased to 26 per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire average is 26 and the England rate is 24.

A local public health official has challenged the government over new care home guidance, which he has condemned as a “backwards step”.

The new guidance tells residents to only leave care homes for medical appointments or in exceptional circumstances. On their return they will need to isolate for 14 days.

Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, has raised his concerns about the new guidance with the Department for Health and Social Care.

He believes that residents should be able to leave care homes.

Mr Webb said:

“The government guidance is quite restrictive about people in care homes taking trips out. We felt that was a backwards step.

“If you live in a care home you are entitled to get some fresh air. We were a bit disappointed to see some further restrictions. We have raised that with the Department for Health and Social Care.

“As long as it is done safely we would like to see people enjoy the spring sunshine as the rest of us can. Hopefully that will be looked at and we can give some better news in the future.”

Read more:

• Harrogate care home residents furious at covid isolation guidance
• Questions over Starbeck Baths as council fails to give opening date

This comes as residents at a care home on Claro Road, which is run by Disability Action Yorkshire, said they will defy the guidance as it was a “clear breach” of their human rights.

Jackie Snape, chief executive of the charity, has written to Harrogate MP, Andrew Jones. She warned him that he will receive furious e-mails as a result of the guidance.

She said:

“For the people that live at 34 Claro Road this is devastating. They are young people who just want to have the same freedoms as everyone else.

“They are seeing pictures of groups enjoying a beer outside the pub and they are being told they can’t even go for a walk around the block.”

Today in the Harrogate district a further four cases of coronavirus have been reported.

The figures, released by Public Health England, take the total since the start of the pandemic to 7,630.

The district’s seven-day case rate has risen slightly and now stands at 24.2 per 100,000. Despite the increase it remains below North Yorkshire’s average of 25.2.

North Yorkshire’s average is now slightly above England’s which is 25.1.

Today marks one week since Harrogate District Hospital reported its last covid death on April 11. The total number of covid patients that have died since the start of the pandemic remains at 179.

Read more:

• Harrogate Hospital’s waiting near list nears 16,000. 
• Almost 95,000 people have received their first dose of the covid vaccine in the Harrogate district.

Five coronavirus cases have been reported in the Harrogate district today.

According to Public Health England statistics, today’s cases take the total since the beginning of the pandemic to 7,626.

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

The last death recorded at the hospital was April 11.

The seven-day covid rate in the district stands at 23 per 100,000 people. It remains below the North Yorkshire average which is 24.6.

Read more:

• NHS figures show waiting list at Harrogate District Hospital is nearing 16,000. 
• No covid vaccines at Showground for 19 days in summer.

Yesterday, figures from NHS England revealed the number of people who have received a first dose of a covid vaccine in the Harrogate district has reached nearly 95,000.

Nine coronavirus cases have been reported today in the Harrogate district by Public Health England.

Although the number remains low, there has been an increase in cases this week compared with last week.

The total since the start of the pandemic now stands at 7,617.

The district’s seven-day average rate of infection is now 20 per 100,000. This is below the county’s average of is 25 per 100,000 and the England average of 28.

No further covid deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital. The total since the start of the pandemic remains at 179.

The hospital said today it has five inpatients with coronavirus.

Read more:

• Harrogate Hospital is to turn single-use plastics, including face masks, into reusable material with new machine. 
• 25 pharmacies have signed up to be collection points for covid tests. 

In other covid news, it has been revealed today that for 19 days in the summer, vaccinations will be suspended at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate.

This is to allow events, including the Great Yorkshire Show, to go ahead.

Twenty-five pharmacies in the Harrogate district have signed up to become collection points for coronavirus tests and more are expected to come on stream in the coming days.

Rapid lateral flow tests are now freely available for people who do not have covid symptoms as part of government attempts to control the spread of the virus.

The NHS map showing collection points has 14 sites in Harrogate, five in Knaresborough, three in Ripon and one in Boroughbridge, Pateley Bridge and Masham respectively.

It is a major improvement since the initiative began on Friday when only a single pharmacy in Knaresborough was signed up to the scheme.

Such sites enable people to take rapid lateral flow tests twice a week. If someone tests positive they then need to take a more accurate PCR test.

Public health officials hope the pharmacies and a mobile testing unit will plug a potential gap in collection points, which could be left when the Dragon Road testing site in Harrogate closes on June 1.

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• First covid death at Harrogate hospital in nearly two weeks
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Health officials told a coronavirus press briefing today that they are still working with Harrogate Borough Council to find a replacement site for PCR testing.

As well as pharmacies and testing sites, people can also order tests to be sent to their homes, or get tests through work or school.

Dr Victoria Turner, a public health consultant, told today’s press briefing of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum:

“We are in the best position in terms of case numbers for about six months, we are not quite at the low levels of last summer yet.

“But with lockdown rules easing there is a chance that cases will start to rise. Test positivity has come down in recent weeks and there has been a significant increase in lateral flow testing.

“We have had lots of pharmacies sign up to the national testing programme but we are expecting even more to come online in the next few days.”

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

“Just on the point of lateral flow tests, I was in a pharmacy the other day and asked about the interest in testing.

“They told me that they have had the most interest from those who are over 50. It might be that younger people are going through other outlets but it is something to explore.”

Harrogate District Hospital currently has just five coronavirus patients but recently reported its first covid death in nearly two weeks.

The seven-day average rate of infection now stands at 16 per 100,000 people in the district. The North Yorkshire seven-day rate is 21 and the England average is 36.

Five coronavirus cases have been reported today in the Harrogate district by Public Health England.

The figure is down on yesterday’s 11 cases and takes the district’s total since the start of the pandemic to 7,601.

The seven-day average rate of infection now stands at 15 per 100,000 people in the district.

The North Yorkshire seven-day rate is 20 and the England average is 27.

No further covid deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital. The total since the start of the pandemic remains at 179.

Read more:

• Visits for inpatients have been resumed at Harrogate District Hospital.
• Local residents welcome Pateley Bridge’s vaccination centre with open arms. 

A coronavirus vaccination centre will open in Pateley Bridge on Saturday.

Pateley Bridge Pharmacy, which will operate at Pateley Bridge and Bewerley Memorial Hall on Park Road, has the capacity to give up to 400 inoculations a day.

A technical glitch means the NHS website booking system is not currently offering the Pateley Bridge site as an option when it invites people to book inoculations.

The pharmacy has assured eligible people they can select the site either by dialling 119 or calling them directly on 01423 711329.

Read more:

• Harrogate covid testing centre to close on June 1
• No coronavirus fines despite huge party on the Stray

It will be the fourth vaccination site in the Harrogate district, following the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, the racecourse in Ripon and the former Lidl in Knaresborough.

The pharmacy-led site will use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine because it is easy to store and transport.

Samin Khan, who runs Pateley Bridge Pharmacy, previously told the Stray Ferret:

“We know that there is a need in rural areas. It took a bit of convincing but NHS England has now given us the go ahead.

“The hall is quite large. When we are up and running we will be able to vaccinate around 400 people a day.

“Pateley Bridge is a real community and it has taken a real community effort to organise.”

The organisers of Tockwith Show have cancelled this year’s event due to “continuing uncertainty” about the impact of covid.

This year’s show, which was scheduled for August, was due to be the 75th since it was first staged in 1945.

However, Tockwith and District Agricultural Society’s committee said there were “too many question marks” over what would be allowed and how to ensure public safety in order to make this year’s event viable.

Read more:

• First ever four-day Great Yorkshire Show confirmed
• Ripley Show cancelled due to covid
• Masham Steam Rally postponed due to covid

Michelle Lee, the show’s president, said the committee did not want to hold an event that did not match up to the quality of previous years.

She said:

“The simple problem is we just don’t know what is going to be happening in August, whether there will be any restrictions still in force and what we would be required to do as the show organisers to meet any future guidelines.

“It would be great if we could leave it until July and then make a decision, but the reality of organising one of the biggest agricultural shows in Yorkshire is that the preparation needs to begin months ahead of the event, and we are already well past the time when decisions need to have been taken.”

Organisers still hope to hold the annual bonfire and fireworks night will still be held at the showfield in November.

Ms Lee added:

“It’s tempting to say by November everything will be back to some form of normality but, again, without a crystal ball we just don’t know.”

Ripley Show has also been cancelled due to the pandemic.

The organisers of Masham Steam Engine and Fair Organ Rally also postponed their event as there were “still too many uncertainties to proceed”.

The Great Yorkshire Show is still planned to go ahead this year and will be held over four days for the first time in its history.

Birstwith Show is also scheduled to take place on July 31.