First covid death at Harrogate hospital in two months

The first death from a patient who tested positive for coronavirus has been reported at Harrogate District Hospital in 72 days.

The last time a death was recorded at the hospital was July 19th.

It takes the total number of deaths at Harrogate hospital from coronavirus up to 83, according to NHS England figures.

It comes as the number of positive tests for covid in the district since the start of the pandemic passed 1,000 yesterday.

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Police say they will act to disperse any post-curfew parties in Harrogate

The measure was designed to reduce the spread of coronavirus but some fear that the 10pm curfew on pubs, bars and restaurants will have the opposite effect.

Shocking scenes from around the country of people partying on the streets minutes after 10pm.

While there were no street parties in the Harrogate district a viral video captured by Joshua Murphy in York uncovered how some responded to the new rule.

In the video hundreds of people gathered, danced and sang before a police van turned up to try and disperse the crowds.

https://www.facebook.com/JoshwaaaaaDJ/videos/10158693489882480

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North Yorkshire Police released a statement in response to the viral video from York to say they did not make any arrests but dispersed people in under 30 minutes.

The force has said it will support hospitality businesses to ensure crowds do not gather outside premises and to ensure that customers observe the rule of six.

Superintendent Mike Walker, gold commander for North Yorkshire Police’s response to Covid-19, said:

“It’s very clear that we are at a turning point now, where everyone’s personal choices will have a significant effect upon the rate at which this virus spreads over the coming weeks. Through engagement and encouragement, we will continue to support and assist those who are taking the necessary steps to suppress the spread.”

Rob Bowles, chair of North Yorkshire Police Federation, told the Stray Ferret:

“The federation supports North Yorkshire Police’s response to the street parties over the weekend. In order to prevent something like this happening again I think the government needs to educate the public not just on what the restrictions are but also why the restrictions have come into place.”

Rossett School confirms Covid case

Rossett School in Harrogate has confirmed one of its sixth form students has tested positive for coronavirus.

The year 12 student will now isolate at home for 14 days. A further 30 year 12 students have been identified as being in close, prolonged contact with the student and have also been asked to isolate.

The school said its sixth form centre has had a “deep enhanced” clean after being identified as the only area used by the student concerned.

The school added all other pupils could return to school.

Parents and guardians received a letter from the school this weekend to remind them of the protocol if a child develops symptoms.

Helen Woodcock, the headteacher, said:

“In our preparation for reopening we planned for a variety of scenarios, we were well-rehearsed and prepared for it. We followed all the necessary national guidance and protocols.

“We have checked that the child is safe at home with their family. The last three weeks have been a fantastic reminder of the importance of education in the lives of our young people.

“We have reinforced with the students the need for them to consider what they do outside of school, where they go and who they see, and how they can contribute to limiting the spread of the virus.”

Ms Woodcock added staff training and school hygiene rules were also in place to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Yesterday, a further 11 cases of Covid were reported in the Harrogate district.

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Harrogate woman sends minister letter pleading to see her father

A Harrogate woman has sent a letter to the government urging ministers to change the care home restrictions which she says are harming her father’s mental health.

Judy Bass’s father lives in a care home and she hasn’t seen him since March.

Her father, who has dementia, needs constant care and she argues that his mental health is continuing to deteriorate without visits from his family.

Judy has joined  ‘Rights for Residents’ – a group campaigning for a change to current restrictions. Their petition has over 125,000 signatures.

Judy, alongside others in the group, have sent letters to Helen Whateley, Minister for Care, saying:

“Current guidelines will not protect residents from the risks of contracting the virus but they will continue to heighten the risks of them dying from loneliness, depression and other damaging mental health conditions.”

Judy Bass and her brother would visit their dad every day before March. She said:

“I just feel like I’ve let him down. What’s he living for at the moment? Hardly anything. He will just give up.”

Judy Bass and her father

Judy and her father, a few years ago.

In the letter the group asks why the government cannot try to alleviate some of the distress placed on residents and their families.

“Why have the Government not found a more humane and nuanced solution that balances the risk of contracting Covid-19 against the devastating mental and physical deterioration we are witnessing?”

The letters ask the government to:

The Prime Minister’s announcements suggest that restrictions could continue for a further six months. This would mean Judy wouldn’t see her father for a year.

She added:

“He may not have much time left, he is 99. I can’t get my brain around not seeing him for a year. I don’t think I am any more risk than his care workers who are still going out.”

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Harrogate council to hand back up to £530,000 in business grants

Harrogate Borough Council is set to hand back up to £530,000 in discretionary grants to government, despite some businesses not receiving support.

Some self-employed people in the district said they were rejected for grants because they do not have business premises, even though other authorities had extended support to those who were initially turned down.

Three people who have spoken to the Stray Ferret said they had not received any “meaningful support” during the pandemic. One described it as a “real kick in the teeth”.

Jennie Eyres, who is a self-employed teacher trainer based in Ripon, said she was booked up with work up until the end of the academic year. But that work disappeared after the pandemic started.

She said:

“There is a persistent worry to the point of sickness and headaches. It is always in the back of your mind about how are you going to pay for things.

“We had to think carefully about how we do that and where we get the money from.”

Fixed property costs

In a council report last week, the authority agreed a final increase in remaining grants to be handed out and estimated that “between £270,000 and £530,000 would be returned to government”. Funds are expected to be handed back after September 30.

Councils were given the power to offer discretionary grants of up to £10,000 designed to support businesses who had struggled during the pandemic.

The government set out criteria which allowed councils to determine which cases to support. The borough council offered funds to businesses with fixed property costs, meaning those who did not have a premises missed out, even if they had suffered a loss of income during the crisis.

But other authorities, including South Gloucestershire Council, extended the grants to those who run their business from home.

Mrs Eyres has appealed the council’s decision to reject her claim twice. Two others who spoke to the Stray Ferret were also rejected because their business were run from a residential premises.

Andrew Stanley, a retired army captain turned coach in Knaresborough, was also denied a grant because he does not have a fixed premises. He had a busy March before lockdown, but work has been difficult to come by since then.

He said:

“The work I do involves sitting in closed rooms and not everyone is comfortable with that. I’ve been living off credit cards and a bounce back loan from my banks.”

Meanwhile, Hannah Ruddy from Harrogate, who runs music classes for children, went as far as writing to the Arts Council after being left without support during the pandemic.

She described the rejection of a discretionary grant as a “real kick in the teeth for local businesses”.

Earlier this year, Hannah was backed by Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, Andrew Jones, who joined a cross-party group of MPs which aimed to stand up for people like Hannah who have been excluded from coronavirus government support schemes.

In response, Harrogate Borough Council said it followed national guidance when distributing its grants and its initial scheme handed out £48 million to over 4,000 businesses, while its further discretionary funding also followed national guidelines.

A spokesperson for the council said:

“Our scheme reflected the government guidance that stated it was primarily and predominantly aimed at micro and small businesses with relatively high ongoing fixed property-related costs, and has suffered a significant fall in income due to the covid-19 crisis.

“The government set national criteria and priority businesses for the grant funds but allowed local authorities to determine which cases to support within those criteria (available on our website).

“We needed to determine which businesses to support based on the amount of funding available and understandably there will be differences between local authorities.”

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Another 11 coronavirus cases confirmed in the Harrogate district

Coronavirus figures released today show a further 11 positive cases in the Harrogate district.

This number takes the total since the beginning of the pandemic to 993. Today’s numbers are an increase on the eight confirmed cases yesterday.

These further cases will be monitored by North Yorkshire County Council, it recently announced it was reinstating its “major incident status”.

A mobile testing site was in place in Harrogate on Friday and will return again tomorrow. The testing site operates on Dragon Road car park from 11am to 3pm.

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Strayside Sunday: Now is the time to seek a better future for our children

Strayside Sunday is our weekly political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

Something different this week from me this week.  A bit of a manifesto actually.

Having spent the last two weekends in the company of my adult daughters, I’m struck by the uncertainties they now face.  When covid struck, Daughter 1 was furloughed; then, when it was realised that her employment had commenced too late to participate in the scheme, she was placed on 50% salary. And then, perhaps inevitably, she was made redundant.  In the past month she has applied for more than 100 jobs, but to no avail; I suspect her experience is no different from that of hundreds of thousands of young people across the country.

Daughter 2 is now well into her third year of drama school; a middle-class child at a private university.  She’s a worker (her father is from mill working stock) and earns money in her spare time working behind the bar at a pub.  I’m afraid she’d better get used to it. As things currently stand, little opportunity for graduates is afforded by the arts and culture sector.  In common with so many others, her sector is in crisis.

As a parent, I encourage, I console and I subsidise.

So, instead of sounding off from the cheap seats about the actions and intentions of others I feel compelled to set down some of my own views, such as they are, about how, in the age of covid, we need to think about repairing and renewing ourselves, each other and our society.  And make no mistake, the economic and knock on social consequences of the pandemic will last at least a generation.  We are emphatically not “post” covid and we won’t be for a very long time.

My view is that we need to take this time to think on and think deep, to re-examine the beliefs we have lived by heretofore and to ask ourselves whether or not they are fit for purpose, let alone fit to create a world we would want for our children and theirs.

My daughters, and yours, face a new reality.  Their vista is nowhere near as pretty and compelling as my own was, thirty years ago.  Surely we have a responsibility to ask ourselves what can we do to make things better for them?

In this column I want to outline three broad subject areas – inclusive growth, health and wellbeing and justice – to which I’ll return in future weeks, to explore in more detail and to place in local context.  Additionally, in the age of the NHS Test & Trace App, I will touch on the dangers of the disruption caused by data and technology, if its benefits for capital are not balanced by a consideration for people.  Technology is here, let’s give it a purpose.

So, for the record, I believe a good and prosperous society is one where economic growth is not, de facto, good.  Inclusive economic growth – in which people can participate and engage actively in meaningful work, benefit fully from the fruits of that work,  and be valued by both employer and government, with true agency in their economic and social relationships – builds better communities. Communities that thrive, rather than simply grow.

I believe that good health and wellbeing for people and children is a right to enjoy; governments and business are responsible for that achievement. Those rights bring responsibilities, so people must play their full part in looking after themselves.  If covid has taught us anything, we must cherish our NHS, it’s our first and foremost democratic privilege. It is not simply an entitlement.

And I believe that justice should be available equally and for all, unconstrained by means, social standing or personal health histories. In turn, people have a responsibility to do the right thing.  During lockdown most of us behaved properly (most of the time).  Now, as we begin to feel the vice grip of restriction tighten on our movements and liberty; behavioural compliance is slipping – part fatigue, part defiance, on any view, wrong.

As we seek to build a good society, technology, data and artificial Intelligence are revolutionising democracy, the work of government, public service provision, human relationships and community fabric (whether these are ‘place-based’ or ‘of interest’). Further, data and technology are revolutionising traditional business models, their fundamental economics and the value-exchange (what we each get from the deal) they provide with consumers like you and me.

At the moment, technology is being harnessed almost exclusively for the good of capital.  This balance needs to change; because technology offers us opportunities to make things better for all by connecting people through technology to tackle social exclusion blight, solitude and unwarranted loneliness; by using data insights and understanding  to strengthen the human “ties that bind” people together in community; and by promoting data rights and agency to empower people in our new digital economy and in their relationship with government.

I could be wrong. I often am. But if we don’t anchor our values and the way we behave in new modes of thinking, the future looks bleak indeed.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

Next Sunday Paul will be taking a break –  Strayside Sunday will return on October 11th. 

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Eight new covid cases in the Harrogate district

A further eight positive cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours.

Today’s figures from Public Health England take the total number of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 982.

This is the first weekend bars and restaurants in England will have to close by 10pm. Boris Johnson announced the curfew in an attempt to prevent further increases in cases.

Yesterday, further restrcitions were announced for Leeds. Household mixing within houses and gardens is now banned and socialising in indoor venues such as pubs is strongly advised against.

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Thirteen more cases of coronavirus confirmed in Harrogate district

Thirteen more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours.

The figure from Public Health England takes the total number of cases in the area since the start of the pandemic up to 974.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced further measures earlier this week, including a 10pm curfew for bars and restaurants, in an effort to halt the increase in coronavirus cases.

Meanwhile, no deaths from patients who tested positive for covid-19 have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital in two months.

The last time a death was reported at the hospital was July 19.

Further restrictions were announced for Leeds today in an effort to curb coronavirus infections. Matt Hancock, health secretary, confirmed that households will be unable to mix in homes or gardens from midnight.

Leeds City Council has also advised people not to meet up in pubs and restaurants.

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Job support scheme ‘too little too late’, say Harrogate Lib Dems

Local Liberal Democrats said the Chancellor’s job support scheme comes “too little too late” for Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Rishi Sunak announced further support for part time workers yesterday ahead of the furlough scheme finishing in October.

As part of the billion pounds worth of measures, the government will top up wages for workers covering up to two-thirds of their hours for the next six months.

But local Lib Dems said the scheme did not go far enough to protect events, tourism and hospitality businesses.

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Judith Rogerson, local Lib Dem parliamentary spokesperson, said the party had been campaigning on the issue for months and criticised local MP, Andrew Jones, for “showing a lack of leadership”.

She said:

“Harrogate & Knaresborough’s MP should be standing up for his constituents and taking stance on important issues. Instead, he has once again demonstrated a total lack of local leadership.

“Local businesses that cannot afford to pay a third of wages to their staff will inevitably be forced to make significant numbers redundant. I am thinking in particular about the events industry where it is at present almost impossible to earn any income. We know how crucial this sector is to our local economy here in Harrogate.

“What’s more, the announcement said nothing about the millions of people who have been excluded from Government support throughout the Covid pandemic. The Chancellor’s announcement is welcome but it doesn’t go far enough to protect jobs and incomes.”

In response to the Chancellor, Mr Jones said he welcomed the scheme to support workers.

He said:

“Our country is not facing the economy of March, when we were at the height of the strict lockdown. So as the economic situation changes and the need changes, the support package evolves.  I welcome the package, and said so in the House.  Business groups have welcomed it too.

“I am particularly pleased that the Chancellor has sought to protect jobs in the tourism and hospitality sectors further by retaining the lower 5% VAT rate until the end of March. These sectors are important to Harrogate & Knaresborough, and we need them to be strong in the coming months as that helps our whole area.”