Ripon coronavirus testing site being considered

A coronavirus testing site in Ripon could open in an effort to expand capacity.

Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire County Council, said at a press briefing today the authority was “scoping” a mobile site in the city from next week.

However, no further details have been revealed.

Ripon has some of the lowest rates of covid infections in the Harrogate district.

Today’s press briefing also revealed the full-time Harrogate testing site on Dragon Road is averaging 180 tests per day – well below its capacity of 320.

Read more:

A further 50 cases of coronavirus were confirmed today in the Harrogate district, according to Public Health England.

The figure takes the total number of cases up to 3,254.

There are further encouraging signs that the spread of the virus is slowing.

The seven-day average rate of infections for the district has fallen to 241 per 100,000 people, down from 307 last week.

It means the district has fallen from having the second highest rate in the county to the fourth highest behind Selby, Craven and Scarborough.

The R number has also gone down from 1.6 to 1.2.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health for North Yorkshire, told today’s press briefing of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, a partnership of emergency agencies, that consensus was needed over future restrictions.

He said the tier one measures, which were in place in the county until the second lockdown, did not give people “a sense of seriousness about the situation”.

Tier one ‘did not work’, says North Yorkshire public health boss

North Yorkshire’s top public health boss has said tier one lockdown restrictions “did not work” and had “no teeth”.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health at the county council, said the measures did not give people “a sense of seriousness about the situation”.

The England lockdown is due to end on December 2 and county council leaders said they expect to hear from ministers on what restrictions will be introduced at the end of next week.

North Yorkshire was under tier one restrictions, which meant people followed national guidance with no further restrictions.

But Dr Sargeant told a press briefing of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, a partnership of emergency agencies, that those in tier two restrictions tackled coronavirus better.

He said:

“There are some things we know for certain. Tier one did not really work, it did not give the public a sense of the seriousness of the situation.

“It just did not have the teeth. We were saying that for some time, we were saying that the issues in North Yorkshire were around household spread and mixing.

“It was not until tier two that you really had measures that would address that particular issue.”

He added that there needed to be “consistency and consensus” from political leaders over what the restrictions will be after lockdown in order for the public to take measures seriously.

Read more:

Meanwhile, Dr Sargeant said data appeared to show infections were “plateauing”, but stopped short of saying lockdown measures had worked.

He said:

“We are hopefully beginning to see, particularly in the data around hospitalisations, perhaps the beginning of a plateauing.

“I am very hesitant to say that this is definitely showing a sustained effect of lockdown. We expect to see the effect of lockdown beginning to show this week into next.

“But there is some suggestion that we might be levelling off and we need to keep watching that and hope that it is sustained.”

The briefing also revealed the number of covid patients at Harrogate District Hospital has remained flat. Currently, 27 people are being treated compared with 28 last week.

Harrogate’s testing site on Dragon Road is averaging 180 tests per day, well below its capacity of 320.

Yesterday, Public Health England figures showed a further 48 positive tests in the district, taking the total cases since March up to 3,204.

Following a change by Public Health England into how it records cases, the total number of cases in the district has fallen by 201.

Positive tests are now recorded by where the test is carried out, instead of where the person is registered with the NHS.

Coronavirus clinic to open at Harrogate community centre

A coronavirus clinic will open in a Harrogate community centre next week and will be in place until January next year.

The Jennyfield Styan Community Centre in Grantley Drive will enable those with coronavirus or symptoms to see a GP face-to-face.

Currently, patients with covid-19 who need an in person appointment attend their own surgery.

While other surgeries have strict safety measures in place, doctors have been pushing for a dedicated site.

GPs and part-time doctors will begin seeing patients next week between 12pm and 6pm on Mondays to Fridays.

Read more:

Appointments will alternate between the two rooms, enabling a deep clean between each patient.

Patients will be asked to wait in their vehicle on arrival, wear a face covering and keep hands sanitised, before they are escorted to the appointment.

If the patient requires medication then they will get an electronic prescription sent directly to the patient’s usual pharmacy.

NHS North Yorkshire CCG and the Yorkshire Health Network secured the community centre from Harrogate Borough Council.

The CCG’s clinical chair, Dr Charles Parker, said:

“This additional capacity will be of enormous benefit to practices. It will help ensure surgeries can continue to meet the demands of a busy winter period.”

Councillor Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said:

“Jennyfield Styan Community Centre plays a vital part of the community for so many, and now more than ever.

“I hope the NHS can make use of the facility and provide much needed GP appointments for those that so desperately need them.”

Several hundred people miss early cancer diagnosis in Yorkshire

Several hundred people in Yorkshire have missed potentially life-saving early cancer diagnosis because of covid, according to a Harrogate-based research charity.

Dr Kathryn Scott, chief executive of Yorkshire Cancer Research, gave the figure in an interview with the Stray Ferret.

The NHS halted screenings in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Scott said:

“We have lost some opportunities to find early cancers. People were also very nervous to go to the doctors. Then the people that do go have delays in diagnosis and treatment.

“The NHS tried innovative ways to get around that. But it is still a sad fact that we think several hundred people have missed out on early diagnosis in Yorkshire.”

Read more:

She added that when people miss out on early diagnosis they often have to go through more invasive treatments and have a worse chance of survival.

Dr Scott spoke to us after the publication of the charity’s annual accounts for the year ending 31 March 2020, which showed total income had increased from £12.8 million to £18.7 million.

Royalty income accounted for £12 million – up from £6.7 million – of this.

The charity, however, is expecting its next accounts to be more challenging because of covid, with fundraising income likely to be down by more than £1 million.

£8.3 million for new cancer research

To combat what Dr Scott sees as a “big hill to climb” with cancer, the charity is pumping another £8.3 million into new research.

Of this sum, £3.4 million will be used to fund research into whether chemotherapy before surgery in bowel cancer patients improves survival rates.

Other projects it funds will look into ways to use medication to slow the spread of prostate cancer, urine tests to detect bladder cancer and whether vaping products can help those with mental illness quit smoking.

How coronavirus vaccine push can help cancer research

There has been much excitement about the development of coronavirus vaccines with efficacy of up to 95%.

Dr Scott hopes the development of new technologies, such as synthetic DNA-based vaccines, could be adapted to improve cancer treatments. She said:

“One of the benefits of the way they have run the clinical trials is the new technology and the new techniques they’re using in those trials.

“It really compresses the time and so absolutely in the future, fingers crossed, we can get cancer treatments and therapies through that pipeline faster.”

Although the pandemic is likely to hit Yorkshire Cancer Research hard financially, it believes its future is bright, and that it will be able to continue with its aim of helping 2,000 more people survive cancer every year in Yorkshire.

Ripon charity uses robot cats to help dementia sufferers

Dementia sufferers in North Yorkshire have received a new gift to keep their spirits up during lockdown — robot cats.

Knaresborough Rotary Club funded 50 cats for Dementia Forward, a Ripon-based charity that supports people with dementia.

Each robot weighs about the same as a cat and interacts in a lifelike way, creating a calming effect.

Read more:

Jill Quinn, chief executive of Dementia Forward, said people had become attached to the cats after the charity trialed them.

She said:

“They are very lifelike and purr and react when they are stroked.

“They can provide comfort for a person with dementia who is anxious or unable to settle by providing a calming effect.

“One example we witnessed was a woman who was very into arts and crafts, but her dementia meant that she would get anxious and wasn’t able to stay involved in any activity.

“But once we placed the cat on her knee she sat and stroked it – it created a calming distraction which enabled her to stay focussed and enjoy the activity.”

The cats are part of a wider effort to find innovative ways to help people during the pandemic and lockdown.

Dementia Forward, which is funded by North Yorkshire County Council to provide dementia support in the county, has launched a ‘cafe in a box’ scheme.

The initiative involves delivering boxes tailored to each individual interests, for instance puzzles, jigsaws, books, games, laminated jokes and sheets with activities.

Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate has donated teabags and biscuits to the boxes, hence the ‘cafe’ name.

Marie-Ann Jackson, head of stronger communities at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“Like many local organisations across the county who are unable to deliver their normal support services due to the current restrictions, Dementia Forward have come up with some wonderfully innovative and alternative ways to support people.

“The café in a box is such a great idea, especially as they are personalising the boxes so they are really tailored to be an individual’s interests.”

863 covid cases in Harrogate district so far this month

A total of 863 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district so far in November.

Analysis of figures from Public Health England shows how the number of cases has soared locally, although there are signs the rate may be flattening.

In the past week alone, 426 cases were confirmed in the district.

Daily covid cases and deaths reported at Harrogate District Hospital up to November 14. Data: Public Health England/NHS England. Graph: The Stray Ferret.

Daily covid cases and deaths reported at Harrogate District Hospital up to November 14. Data: Public Health England/NHS England. Graph: The Stray Ferret.

Unless infections fall significantly in the next fortnight, the monthly total will comfortably surpass the 1,353 recorded in October.

There were a record 95 infections on Monday last week but by Saturday the number had fallen to 34. The R number has also declined from 1.6 to 1.4.

Read more:

Meanwhile, the latest data from North Yorkshire County Council shows the average rate of infections per 100,000 people stands at 265 – down from a record high of 307 last week. The latest figure refers to the seven days to November 12.

The data overall suggests the impact of the national lockdown on November 5 may be having an effect.

Only one Harrogate district area – Knaresborough North – is currently in the top 10 places in the county for the most covid cases. It has recorded 46 infections in the last seven days.

Eight of the areas in the top 10 are in the Scarborough borough, with Filey and Hummanby reporting the most of all with 84.

North Knaresborough and central Harrogate are local covid hotspots

Knaresborough and Central Harrogate are the current covid hotspots in the Harrogate district, according to the latest government figures.

The seven-day average rate of infections in the week to November 10 reveals the two local areas each recorded 44 new cases — more than anywhere else.

Harrogate Central was the fourth highest local area in the district last week, with 26 cases. Knaresborough was not in the top five.

Both areas also appear in the top 10 list for the county.

Read more:

The Scarborough borough accounts for seven of the top 10 places, with Filey and Hummanby reporting the most of all with 79.

Dishthorpe, Baldersby and Markington reported the lowest number of cases in the Harrogate district with six.

Highest number of cases
1= Harrogate Central 44
1= Knaresborough 44
3 Harrogate East 37
5= Harrogate West and Pannal 36
5= Killinghall and Hampsthwaite 36

Lowest number of cases
1 Dishthorpe, Baldersby and Markington 6
2= Masham, Kirkby Malzeard and North Stainley 7
2= Pateley Bridge and Nidd Valley 7
4= Knaresborough Central 13
4= Ripon North and West 13

Harrogate district covid rate falls after record high

Harrogate district’s coronavirus seven-day rolling average has fallen after hitting a record high, according to latest figures.

Data from North Yorkshire County Council shows the average rate per 100,000 people stands at 285 – a drop from 307 last week.

The data was published yesterday and relates to infection levels in the seven days to November 12.

The district’s rate rose dramatically along with other areas of North Yorkshire in early November.

However, the district still has the second highest rate in the county and remains above the national average of 269.

Read more:

Scarborough has the highest weekly rate at 577, which has raised concern among county council bosses.

In another sign that rates in the Harrogate district may have peaked, the R number, which refers to the reproduction rate of the virus, has reduced from 1.6 a week ago to 1.4.

This means every 10 people that test positive in the district will infect another 14.

Last week, Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, warned last week that rates in the county were “soaring”.

He said:

“Infection rates are soaring in many areas.

“We had been doing very well and we went into the current lockdown in the lowest tier of intervention. Sadly, our current rates put us in a very different place.”

 

Two further coronavirus deaths at Harrogate hospital

Two coronavirus deaths have been confirmed on the same day at Harrogate District Hospital, according to latest NHS England figures.

Both deaths were recorded on November 11. It takes the total number confirmed at the hospital since the start of the pandemic to 93.

It comes as a further 53 coronavirus cases have been tested positive in the Harrogate district, according to today’s Public Health England data.

Read more:

The figure takes the total case number since March up to 3,300.

Meanwhile, the district’s weekly rate stands at 294 per 100,000 people.

It is the second highest in the county behind Scarborough, which stands at 580.

North Yorkshire is still tracking above the national average. The county has a rate of 311 compared with the England average of 267.

A further 69 coronavirus cases in Harrogate district

A further 69 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to today’s Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic up to 3,247.

Meanwhile, the district’s weekly rate has dropped to 292 per 100,000 people but is still above the England average of 257.

Scarborough continues to have the highest rate of all the districts in the county at 576.

Read more:

It comes as Harrogate’s Nightingale Hospital could become a vaccination centre when a coronavirus vaccine is ready to be rolled out.

The Prime Minister’s spokesperson said the country’s Nightingales were “one possible way” of offering the vaccine to significant numbers of people.