A further 12 covid cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district.

According to today’s Public Health England figures, it takes the total number of cases to 7,262.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate has fallen to 85 per 100,000 people.

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The North Yorkshire rate stands at 77, while the national average is 107.

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

Knaresborough swimming pool is set to remain closed for the coming months with engineers unable to travel due to covid restrictions.

Harrogate Borough Council said, in a residents’ newsletter released yesterday, that the equipment was in need of urgent repairs.

The council added that manufacturer, based in Spain, was unable to send engineers over to fix the equipment due to the current travel bans.

It has said the pool will remain closed until further notice.

Under the Prime Minister’s roadmap out of lockdown the ban on international travel is set to be reviewed in the third stage on May 17. This could leave Knaresborough residents without their pool for another three months.

In the meantime, the Hydro in Harrogate, Nidderdale leisure centre and pool and Ripon leisure centre will open on 12 April.

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The council has also said it won’t be able to reopen Ripon Spa or Starbeck Baths from April 12. This is because many of the staff have been redeployed to frontline services.

The council didn’t offer a further comment at the time of publication.

The Harrogate district has recorded a further 30 covid cases today.

According to Public Health England figures, the number takes the total amount of cases since March to 7,238.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate of infection has fallen to 88 people per 100,000.

The rate for North Yorkshire stands at 83, while the England average is 116.

Read more:

• Call for inquiry into Harrogate’s Nightingale hospital
• Harrogate hospital coronavirus patients down by 19 in a week
• Harrogate district vaccine boost as over 50s prepare for jab

Killinghall and Hampsthwaite remains the area with the most covid cases in the last seven days, with 23 infections.

Boroughbridge and Marton-cum-Grafton is the second highest in the district with 15.

No further covid deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

Dominic Fazzone from Harrogate was refused entry to Europe to care for his 98-year-old mother who is recovering from covid.

Mr Fazzone drove to Folkstone last Wednesday to catch the Eurotunnel Le Shuttle service as he wanted to look after his mum Filomena who lives in the Benevento province of Italy.

Her two full-time carers have now also caught the virus, leaving her without the care she normally relies upon.

Mr Fazzone says he arrived at the port with proof of a negative covid test, a travel curfew exemption, a travel certificate, and a health declaration.

He ticked a box on the travel certificate that permits travel for “compelling family reasons”, which includes providing assistance to the elderly, sick or disabled who have no other support.

Before driving onto the train, passengers have to first show documents to a UK customs official before a French one.

After being given the green light to travel by the UK side, he said the French official was “rude and arrogant” and told him he could not travel, forcing him to turn around and drive back to Harrogate.

He said:

“He had no compassion. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the papers.”

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Mr Fazzone said his mum, who has signs of dementia, was confused and upset when he did not arrive in Italy.

“She was very upset and she was crying on the phone. She keeps asking my niece when I am coming.”

He said he will try to make the trip again this Friday when he hopes to be allowed into Europe to see his mum.

A spokesperson for Le Shuttle said:

“Any decision on whether to allow a person to enter France is the responsibility of the French authorities.”

Harrogate District Hospital still has more coronavirus patients than during the peak of the first wave but the number has started to drop sharply.

It was revealed at the weekly North Yorkshire coronavirus media briefing today the hospital had 48 coronavirus patients yesterday. Last week there were 65, only a couple away from the record number of 67.

The hospital is the only one in North Yorkshire treating more patients than during the first wave but the situation appears to be heading in the right direction.

It was also revealed today that one more person died at the hospital after testing positive for coronavirus. The latest death, which happened on Sunday, brings the total to 156.

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• Harrogate district vaccine boost as over 50s prepare for jab
• North Yorkshire police prepare for ‘influx of visitors’ as lockdown eases

The Stray Ferret asked today’s briefing whether public health officials were concerned about the high number of patients shortly before lockdown measures ease.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said in response:

“Last week one of my colleagues reported that the numbers had not come down but they have dropped this week from 67 to 48.

“They are still higher than the first wave so we are keeping an eye on it but in terms of the lockdown easing, that is obviously a national decision.

“But we are pleased that the number of coronavirus patients in Harrogate is starting to come down.”

Public Health England confirmed another 13 covid cases in the Harrogate district today.

The district now has a seven-day rate of infection of 89 people per 100,000, which is just above the North Yorkshire average of 83 but below the England average of 117.

The Harrogate district is to receive a vaccine boost this week, as inoculations are set to be rolled out to the over 50s.

A vaccination site in Knaresborough, which will be able to administer jabs to 1,000 people a week, is due to open in the town’s former Lidl on Saturday.

It means the district, which now has vaccination sites in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough, is on track to achieve the government target of offering all over 50s the jab by April 15.

The Knaresborough site is run by Homecare Pharmacy Services, which is based in the town.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said today it was likely other community pharmacies could start offering the vaccine in North Yorkshire as the rollout filters down to everyone over the age of 18 by the end of July.

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Speaking at a media briefing today. Ms Bloor said the Knaresborough site would administer 800 vaccines next week and had the capacity to give up to 1,000 jabs per week. She added:

“This is just part of the wider rollout across the country. I think it is likely other community pharmacies will start to come on stream.

“As of yesterday, North Yorkshire and York reached 249,000 first doses of the vaccines. So it’s significant progress and the teams are doing a fantastic job.

“We have moved further down the priority list, so we are working on the over 65s. There’s no need to contact your GP. You will be contacted directly.”

17 more coronavirus cases have been reported today in the Harrogate district.

It takes the total number of reported cases to 7,178 since the start of the pandemic.

Yesterday the district reached a sombre milestone as the 150th person died in hospital after being diagnosed with covid.

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• Covid vaccination site to open in Knaresborough

Tomorrow a new vaccination site will open up in Knaresborough, at the site of the former Lidl supermarket on York Road.

The site will be run by Homecare Pharmacy Services, a Knaresborough-based pharmacist.

Prime minister Boris Johnson is due to announce the UK’s roadmap out of lockdown tomorrow, with schools expected to reopen on March 8.

To bring home the human cost of the pandemic in our district, the Stray Ferret would like to publish tributes from those who have been hit hardest by covid and help to tell their story.

If you have lost someone close to you due to the virus and want to pay tribute to them, get in touch on contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Harrogate District Hospital has reported a further death from a patient who tested positive for coronavirus.

The patient died on February 17, according to NHS England figures.

It takes the death toll at the hospital since March to 149.

Meanwhile, a further 32 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the Harrogate district.

Read more:

• Harrogate district covid rate below 100 for first time since Christmas
• Ripon hospital patients moved after covid outbreak

It takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 7,144, according to today’s Public Health England figures.

The district’s seven-day covid rate currently stands at to 93 per 100,000 people.

Elsewhere, the North Yorkshire average is 87 and the national rate is 127.

Patients at Ripon Community Hospital have been transferred to Harrogate District Hospital after an outbreak of covid.

The Ripon hospital, which is part of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, has one 16-bed ward, called Trinity Ward.

A Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said:

“We can confirm that following positive covid tests for some patients on the ward at Ripon Community Hospital, the ward has been closed for cleaning and covid-positive patients moved to Harrogate District Hospital to continue receiving care on dedicated covid wards.

“As we always do, appropriate actions have been taken and we are carrying out an investigation into the root cause.”

Harrogate District Hospital has also suffered from an increase in covid transmissions acquired in the hospital since Christmas.

Read more:

• Harrogate district covid rate below 100 for first time since Christmas
• Four covid deaths at Harrogate hospital

The trust has instigated extra measures, including more regular testing and ensuring windows are open for 10 minutes every hour, in response to the increase.

Harrogate hospital covid levels remain stubbornly high: North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which represents the agencies leading the fight against the pandemic, revealed at a press briefing yesterday it currently has 65 patients with the virus.

This is as high as at any point during the pandemic, even though the average rate of infection in the Harrogate district has been falling since January 8.