A further 552 people in England, who tested positive for coronavirus have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 19,301.  87 of the latest deaths were in the Yorkshire and North East regions.

Harrogate hospital has so far reported that 44 of its patients who tested positive for coronavirus have died. This latest death was reported on Sunday 26th April.

The reported deaths today were aged between 31 and 99 years old. 38 had no known underlying health condition.

The NHS England figures released today do not account for those who have died of suspected coronavirus but were not tested, such as those in care homes.

People from all over the Harrogate district took part in a national 1 minute’s silence, to pay tribute to key workers who have died from coronavirus.

Respects were paid at 11 am on Tuesday morning. People from all across the borough stopped what they were doing to remember those who have lost their lives through COVID-19, whilst working on the frontline of this pandemic.

The event coincides with International Workers’ Memorial Day, an annual observance that pays tribute to workers who have become unwell, injured, disabled or have died due to their work.

North Yorkshire Police handed out 61 fines this weekend to people who were not following the coronavirus lockdown rules, despite numerous warnings to not visit the county.

31 fines were issued on Saturday to people visiting from West Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and as far away as Kent. 17 fines were issued in Malham alone – with 13 being written in an hour.

A further 30 fines were handed out on Sunday, with officers issuing six fines in Brotherton to people gathering to go off-road biking. Other unnecessary journeys included a man travelling from Yarm to Wakefield to pick up paint and two men travelling to Bradford to view a car.

The police believe that in some areas the tide is turning in the wrong direction, with some now taking the decision to no longer stay at home and save lives

Speaking about this weekend’s enforcement Assistant Chief Constable Mike Walker said that

“Up until this weekend, the vast majority of both residents and visitors to North Yorkshire have acted responsibly and in accordance to government guidance and abided by the rules around only travelling for essential reasons. We need the support of the public and for some to realise and understand why they are being asked to continue to abide by the stay home rules. This virus is not yet beaten, the threat of a second peak of infection is very real, as we have heard from the Prime Minister himself this morning. That’s why we must keep on going – to protect our love ones; our children, partners, parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters.”

Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any coronavirus deaths today, as hospitals in the UK record the lowest number for four weeks.

The number of deaths reported on Sundays and Mondays tends to be lower due to delays in reporting over the weekends, but today’s number is the lowest since March 30 when 180 died.

Harrogate hospital has so far reported that 43 of its patients who tested positive for coronavirus have died.

Each Thursday, the hospital releases figures showing the total number of patients who have been treated and discharged – that figure last Thursday was 58.

A further 329 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths to 18,749.

Patients were aged between 29 and 100 years old. Twenty-two of the 329 patients, who were aged between 29 and 89 years old, had no known underlying health conditions.

Scotland reported 13 deaths, Wales reported eight and Northern Ireland has not yet released its figures.

The statistics, released each day, do not account for those who have died of suspected coronavirus but were not tested, such as those in care homes.

The public sector workers union, unison, has called on a small minority of residents of the Harrogate district to stop verbally abusing the bin collection teams when they don’t pick up all the curbside waste.

Branch secretary David Houlgate said

“There is a small minority that, maybe through frustration or anxiety caused by the lockdown, think its fine to verbally abuse the staff.  Let’s be clear those staff are working at increased risk for themselves in delivering this vital service and do not deserve to be treated in such a way. This usually happens when a decision is taken not to take some items put out for waste removal.”

The teams of 120 workers who cover waste, recycling and green bin collections are having to deal with increased amounts being left for them on the side of roads. Currently all the recycling centres in North Yorkshire are closed.

The collection teams in Harrogate have also seen acts of gratitude and kindness with messages of thanks left on bins which Mr Houlgate said have been uplifting for the staff.  Staff from the districts leisure centres and parks division have been pulled into work on waste collections- unison says there are legal limits on what the trucks can carry and guidelines on what the crews can and cannot collect.

Ripon butcher Phil Marley, was amazed by the generosity of a Stray Ferret reader who made a large donation after reading the story which went online on Saturday about the way he and his colleagues are helping to feed families and individuals trapped in poverty.

Mr Marley, who has owned and run his shop on North Street for 20 years, has been supplying free meat packs to people in dire need who live in Ripon and surrounding villages and in Saturday’s story, said everybody must pull together to tackle the crisis and what lies beyond for people currently in financial difficulties.

After receiving the call from the donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, he told The Stray Ferret:

“Following the story, I received a phone call and I was amazed by the generosity shown towards people who are in less fortunate circumstances. This means that we can help even more of those in need.”

The free meat packs comprising items including a joint of lamb, pork or beef, sausages and mince beef, are worth up to £25 and are delivered on a weekly basis.

Prior to receiving the donation, Mr Marley received support in both kind and cash from community-minded suppliers and customers.

This column is written for The Stray Ferret by Susie Little co-founder of Covid Co-Operation, Harrogate 

News of a new virus emerging in China started filtering through during January, just as snippets in amongst the Brexit furore.  I don’t think anyone, here in the UK, could possibly have envisaged then where we would find ourselves, just a few weeks later.

Fast forward to mid-March and rumours were swirling about an imminent “lockdown”. Loo roll was as rare as hens’ teeth and I started thinking; initially about over-70s I knew who would be facing the prospect of three months housebound and how I could help them.  The natural extension to that were others I didn’t know, and others like me, who would surely want to help them.

So Covid Co-Operation, Harrogate on Facebook was born. Within 72 hours we had over 4,000 members and, now six weeks later, over 10,500.  The response has been extraordinary and, as the fifth week of “lockdown” ends, people’s kindness, generosity and willingness to step up still astounds every day.  Need Calpol?  No problem.  Broken thermometer?  Amy will drive across town with a new one for you.  Lost your job and need to feed your children?  A week’s worth of food and treats gathered and delivered in a matter of hours.

It became obvious to me, early on, that this will be a life-changing event in so many ways – I think we will see lasting, positive societal and corporate change.  I sense a shift in people’s priorities and values.  Through “lockdown” we’re being forced to live a far more simple life and certainly for my generation and those younger than me, this is the first time we’ve experienced shortages and being unable to buy what we want, when we want it.

I’ll be honest; the non-stop activity of the Group means I rarely have time to dwell on the horror; the sheer enormity of what it is we’re all living through.  Mentally, this works for me; I can’t change what’s happening but I can, along with the best team of admins ever created and over 10,000 Harrogatonians, make things a little easier for people who need it.

I’d like to think, in years to come, when we look back on this period in our lives, we will remember how our town and its people came together to look after one another in a way never seen before.

It’s a privilege to be part of it.

Covid Co-operation has picked six small local charities who help vulnerable groups and launched a Crowdfund project to support Harrogate Foodbank, IDAS, Hear to Help, Supporting Older People, Canaan Warehouse and SparkSupport.  So far it has raised £6,000 – a £1,000 for each charity.  

To donate:  https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/covid-co-operation-harrogate

This column is written for The Stray Ferret by Fiona Movley, Chairman of the Harrogate International Festivals 

With the most difficult challenges come some of the greatest opportunities.

As a charitable arts organisation with little public funding (less than 1% of turnover), the current situation calls for robust business thinking and some tough decision making.

Historically we have kept our team small, enabling us to be agile and react to change.  The team’s quick thinking has led to some imaginative changes including ‘remote Festival experiences’ via our website.  But it has meant that we have furloughed half of our staff; the remaining team working from home as they not only deliver remotely, but plan for the future and dismantle the summer programmes.

We were well ahead with reaction to Covid19. We made the difficult decision to hold back the launch of our Summer Season as major arts events were only just beginning to close down around the world. We knew early on that it was the only decision to take to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our audience and team.

Economic times are very tough but after much deliberation we decided against launching a public appeal for funds.  We will lose £850k of our income this year through cancelled events, sponsorship and fundraising as much of our income is generated from March to July. However, it is not the right time when we all have so many personal worries about health and jobs.  The time will come when your help and support will be vital to us as we move forward.

Today I appeal to you in a different way.  The support of the arts in Harrogate is vital to the future of the town.  We may have lost many events, with a knock-on effect for everyone, not least of all our local economy.  When we come back after this dreadful time, we will need your help to bring back to life the rich vibrancy that is Harrogate International Festivals.

Lives are changed for the better through arts organisations. We need the arts to help us rebuild and enrich our lives once more. Some of our work may in the future be delivered in a different way, we are all learning a great deal during this exceptional time, but when we come back in our full glory, we will need your help to spread the word to bring our audience back again.

Let’s cherish our arts organisations, nurture them, and protect them.

Find out more via HIF Player and HIF at Home, it is all free to access – www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com

There has been praise for Harrogate Borough Council over its handling of emergency business grants to keep firms afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

A few weeks after the Government told Harrogate’s council to distribute £50 million to its 4,200 eligible businesses it has handed out £40 million, or 80%.

So far, the council has sent cash payments of £10,000 or £25,000 to 3,000 businesses.

The government released figures on Sunday to show councils across the country have been handling the business grants, with Harrogate Borough Council rated quite highly.

Of the 314 councils named in the document, Harrogate was in 88th place for the percentage of eligible businesses it had sent loans.

At that time, it had sent out £32,820,000 to 2697 businesses, which works out at 64%. That has now risen to £40 million and 80%.

Some councils had already handed out 100% of their business grants by that point but well over a hundred had only handed out 50%, which has attracted some criticism.

One of those businesses is run by photographer Paula Beaumont, who applied for a £10,000 grant after the coronavirus lockdown meant her work dried up:

“My last wedding was on the March 20. There was meant to be 100 people there and there ended up being six. The process of applying for a grant was absolutely fantastic. I applied on March 27, I had an email on April 3 to say my application had been accepted and the money was in my bank by the April 8. You have no idea how helpful this is, I can now breathe a bit.”

Photographer Paula Beaumont.

Stuart Wright, Business Growth Specialist, who has been working with a number of Harrogate businesses during the crisis said:

“I think they have done a fantastic job. My Harrogate based clients would all agree, I’m sure. Very efficient and prompt which has been brilliant for helping to create a really positive mood amongst folk who were quite panicked. Business was stressful enough with the uncertainty without the added pressure of having to jump through hoops and red tape to access the grant, so dealing with this in the way that they have has given my clients the headspace to steady their ships and create plans to come out of lockdown even stronger than they were before.”

Business Growth Specialist Stuart Wright.

Harrogate Borough Council’s leader Richard Cooper said they’re now focusing on the complex cases:

 We suspect there may be one or two companies or organisations who are eligible for the support but that haven’t come forward.  If you are a business owner in the retail, leisure or hospitality trade, please make sure you have a look at our grants information page. Our focus now is on the more complicated claims which we are working through.”

Phoebe, 10 and Hermonie, 7, live across the road from the new Nightingale hospital in Harrogate. After watching all the work over the last three weeks and joining in on the weekly clap for our carers, they decided they wanted to do something in return.

The Smith sisters came up with the idea of designing t-shirts to help raise money for charity. They have called their venture KidSmith and all money raised will go to HELP Harrogate.

“Our designs are to celebrate how the community has come together to help those in need and we hope they will be a reminder of some of the good things that happened during this really hard time. We chose HELP Harrogate to try and help them continue to support older and vulnerable members of the local community during the Covid 19 crisis.”

Mum, Phillipa Smith told the Stray Ferret that she is very proud of the girls willingness and desire to try and help:

“It’s so lovely to see how excited they are when orders come in for something they have designed themselves. We’re all really pleased to support HELP Harrogate, they are a fantastic local charity on the ground every day helping our community at this awful time.”