Harrogate district covid rate rises above 600

The Harrogate district seven-day covid rate has risen above 600 for the first time after another 141 infections were confirmed today by Public Health England.

The gap between infection rates in the district and the county and national averages continues to widen. The North Yorkshire rate is 456 and the England rate is 357.

The district with the next highest rate in the county is Craven, at 494.

Harrogate West and Pannal Ash has recorded the most cases within the district in the lasts even days, with 66.

Knaresborough Central has recorded the fewest, with 22.

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County council considers return to face-to-face meetings

North Yorkshire County Council officials are to consider making councillors return to face-to-face meetings.

Authority bosses are considering the move despite online meetings leading to councillors claiming 131,338 miles fewer miles a year in expenses.

The county council is among a small number of local authorities which is continuing to hold its public decision-making meetings and debates online following the easing of pandemic restrictions.

The regulations which allowed virtual committee meetings to make decisions is no longer in force and the council’s leadership has repeatedly said it wants flexibility to hold some meetings online and others in person.

However, the government has given no indication whether it would support fresh legislation to enable local authorities to decide how they hold their meetings.

The council has calculated the pandemic measure led to 131,338 miles less mileage being claimed by councillors, saving £55,221, and an estimated 668 fewer working days being spent travelling to meetings.

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The authority, which is working towards becoming carbon neutral by 2030, has concluded resulting annual carbon dioxide emissions savings of online meetings add up to nearly 37 tonnes – the equivalent of taking about 70 cars off the road.

Nevertheless, it is understood some leading councillors are unhappy with continuing to burden the authority’s chief executive, Richard Flinton, with the responsibility for all decisions, particularly ones that are politically sensitive.

An officer’s report to the executive will say that it will be up to the executive to make a recommendation to a meeting of the full council in November.

It says: 

“The county council has a leadership role to play. As such, there is a question as to whether, as part of a return to more normal, pre- pandemic ways of living and working, the council should be leading by example and hold committee meetings in person once again.”

The issue has come under the spotlight just two weeks after the Government’s Covid-19 Response: Autumn and Winter Plan 2021 was published, which stated if the NHS comes under sustained pressure the government would advise people to work from home.

Upper Dales Cllr Yvonne Peacock, who faces a two-hour return trip to attend meetings at County Hall in Northallerton, said online broadcasting of remote meetings had benefited residents in her area.

She said: 

“It saves taxpayers’ money and has kept everybody safe because we aren’t mixing. We know many people are double vaccinated, but the infection rates are still quite high in places, so at this stage I think we would do right to continue as we are.”

169 covid cases recorded in Harrogate district

The Harrogate district has reported another 169 daily covid infections, according to Public Health England figures.

The district’s seven-day average currently stands at 575 cases per 100,000 people. The rate has increased slightly since dropping earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the North Yorkshire rate stands at 437 and the England average is 337.

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Hospitalisations have increased at Harrogate District Hospital, with 13 covid-positive patients receiving treatment – a rise of three on last week.

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

Elsewhere, 129,353 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 120,845 have had a second dose.

Covid infections in school children rise by two-thirds

Covid cases among school-age children in North Yorkshire have risen by two-thirds since the return of classes, new figures show.

Official figures from Public Health England show infections among all five to 19-year-olds in the county rose by two-thirds – or 66% – between the start of the school term on September 6 and the end of the month.

It comes after Louise Wallace, director of public health for North Yorkshire, last week said infections across all age groups in the county were being “driven” by school-age children.

Under new rules at schools and unlike previous terms, neither close contacts of confirmed cases nor bubble groups have to go home and isolate – only those pupils who test positive.

Other measures remain in place including twice-weekly testing, stepped-up cleaning regimes and ventilation in classrooms.

Nonetheless, there are still concerns over further disruptions to education as the virus continues to spread at high rates and during such early stages of the school term.

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This has prompted health officials at North Yorkshire County Council to offer reassurances that action is being taken and extra support remains on standby.

A council spokesperson said: 

“Our outbreak management hub is on hand to provide support and advice to schools and other organisations in the event of an outbreak.

“In some circumstances, previous measures used can be brought back for a temporary period if reducing mixing between groups is seen as necessary to prevent the spread of covid.

“Schools have outbreak management plans in place to manage any outbreaks and their covid risk assessments.

“The plans are continually being reviewed and updated.”

Will school restrictions come back?

The measures which could be brought back in the event of an outbreak include stopping the mixing of pupils at break time and the use of face masks, the council said.

These measures were in place during the previous summer term, but were lifted by the government as the school year ended.

Meanwhile, school children aged 12 to 15 are now being urged to take up their offer of a single Pfizer vaccine dose. Parental permission is required for these jabs, unlike those for teenagers aged 16 and 17, who were offered vaccines from August.

Speaking last week, Ms Wallace said she was hopeful that the recent rise in infections would ease in the coming weeks.

She said: 

“We are seeing an increase in the daily rate across North Yorkshire and we are slightly above the England average, which is quite unusual as we usually track it or are slightly below.

“But I am hopeful that this will start to settle and fall back in line as the next few weeks go by.”

Latest figures yesterday showed North Yorkshire’s weekly infection rate per 100,000 people currently stands at 434 – still above the England average of 331.

A breakdown of the numbers shows the Harrogate district has the highest infection rate in the county at 530.

This is followed by 468 in Scarborough, 448 in Hambleton, 425 in Selby, 392 in Craven, 281 in Richmondshire and 271 in Ryedale.

Harrogate district reports 138 covid infections as rate falls

The Harrogate district has reported another 138 daily covid infections, according to Public Health England figures.

The district’s seven-day average currently stands at 530 cases per 100,000 people. The rate has fallen since reaching a record high of 580 at the start of October.

Meanwhile, the North Yorkshire rate stands at 434 and the England average is 332.

However, hospitalisations remain much lower than previous waves with 10 covid-positive patients receiving treatment in Harrogate District Hospital.

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

Elsewhere, 128,277 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 120,643 have had a second dose.

Harrogate Spring Water blames pandemic as profits fall sharply

Harrogate Spring Water has reported a sharp fall in profits, blaming a decline in bottled drinking water in hotels, restaurants and on aircraft due to covid.

The company, which was bought by French multinational Danone in June last year, has published its latest annual financial report, which covers the nine months to December 31 2020.

Sales revenue decreased from £26.2m in the 12-month period ending March 31 2020 to £10.4m in the nine-month period ending December 31 2020.

Profit declined over the same period from £8.3m to £1.9m. After tax, the company made a £1.8m loss.

The number of staff fell from 83 to 80.

The report also lists current risks to profitability that includes the impact of Brexit which it says has resulted in “greater economic uncertainty”.

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Harrogate Spring Water marketing manager Nicky Cain told the Stray Ferret she expected to see improved results for 2021.

“We were one of the most hardest hit by the pandemic and people no longer being on the move.
“We are now seeing encouraging bounce-back with trade over the summer now back to pre-pandemic levels.
“During this massively challenging period, we’ve continued to support those sectors hardest hit. We have worked with the hospitality industry through supporting the Drinks Trust, and have supported the arts sector through our activation with The Royal Albert Hall and running our limited edition label competition.
“It’s also important to recognise that throughout this tough period we have continued to ringfence our guaranteed donation through our ethical water brand Thirsty Planet, to the charity Pump Aid, who have continued to deliver clean water projects in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Parent company Danone also experienced a fall in revenue and profits, which it blamed on the pandemic, in 2020.

The company, which also owns Actimel, Alpro and Evian, saw revenue fall from £25.3bn in 2019 to £23.6bn.

The Pinewoods expansion

Meanwhile, Harrogate Spring Water is preparing to submit a new planning application to expand its bottling plant in the Pinewoods.

The company was granted outline planning permission to expand to the west of its existing site in 2016, which meant the principle of development had been established but the details had not been agreed.

The reserved matters application provoked a major backlash due to the loss of trees at Rotary Wood. In January this year, councillors on the planning committee voted overwhelmingly to reject it— against the wishes of council officers who had recommended approval.

The company said in July it was working on a completely new application and the 2016 application would be disregarded.

It has pledged to consult with the community before pursuing a formal planning application to the council.

Harrogate district covid rate finally declines

The Harrogate district average covid rate has fallen after soaring in recent weeks to record levels.

Another 95 infections were recorded today by Public Health England.

It brought the weekly rate down to 560 per 100,000 people after it yesterday reached 580 — the highest it has been at any time.

The district’s rate still remains well above the North Yorkshire average of 451 and the England average of 336.

Killinghall and Hampsthwaite has recorded 71 infections in the last seven days, which is the most in the district. Ouseburn, Hammerton and Tockwith is next with 70.

At the other end of the scale, Stray has had just 25 cases, which is the fewest in the district. Menwith, Beckwithshaw and Denton Moor has had 26.

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Rise in covid cases ‘being driven by school-age children’, says public health boss

The sharp rise in coronavirus cases in North Yorkshire is “being driven by school-age children”, the county’s director of public health has said.

Louise Wallace told a meeting of the North Yorkshire Outbreak Management Advisory Board today that case numbers have been climbing since mid-September with most infections among school children and other young people.

She also said it was “quite unusual” that the county’s infection rate had climbed above the England average.

Ms Wallace said.

“This is being driven by what we are seeing in terms of cases through education settings

“We are looking at the data everyday trying to understand any patterns or trends, but from what we can in the terms of the age bandings from the most recent cases, they do seem to be coming from school children and young people.”

Schools and colleges returned at the start of September and twice-weekly testing is being used to limit infections, while rules on social distancing and face masks have been scrapped.

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Ms Wallace said headteachers were receiving continued support from public health teams and that she was hopeful the increase in infections would ease over the coming weeks.

She said: 

“We are seeing an increase in the daily rate across North Yorkshire and we are slightly above the England average which is quite unusual as we usually track it or are slightly below.

“But I am hopeful that this will start to settle and fall back in line as the next few weeks go by.”

The latest figures show North Yorkshire’s weekly infection rate per 100,000 people currently stands 452 – above the England average of 332.

A breakdown of the numbers shows the Harrogate district has the highest infection rate after this week surpassing its previous record of 559 in July to reach 547.

Meanwhile the Harrogate district has recorded a further 128 per 100,000 people, according to latest Public Health England figures.

Elsewhere, 128,163 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 120,343 have had a second dose.

Tockwith bonfire and fireworks set to go-ahead

The annual Tockwith bonfire and fireworks look set to go-ahead this year.

Show organisers confirmed today that preparations were being made to hold the event on Friday, November 5.

The bonfire was cancelled last year due to the covid pandemic and doubts were raised over whether it will go ahead this year.

Tockwith and District Agricultural Show, which is organised by the same committee, was also cancelled this year due to “continuing uncertainty” over the impact of the pandemic.

However, the committee has decided to continue with preparations for fireworks night and also press ahead with plans for what will be the 75th Tockwith show in 2022.

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Michelle Lee, show president, said:

“No one can predict what will be happening next August – or indeed next month – but we feel that it’s now the right time to hopefully draw a line in the sand and move forward. 

“Staging a major event like this needs months of planning so if we don’t start now it will very quickly become too late to get it off the ground.

“Now our immediate priority is to get the bonfire and fireworks night organised so that people can see that Tockwith show is back in business, and hopefully when we light that fire on November 5 it will be a beacon of hope that we are moving into more positive times.”

Harrogate district has highest covid rate in North Yorkshire

The Harrogate district’s seven-day covid rate has increased to 457 per 100,000 people, which is the highest in North Yorkshire.

Selby is second highest in the county with a rate of 418 and the average rate for England is 310.

Meanwhile, a further 143 covid cases have been reported in the district, according to today’s Public Health England figures.

This week Harrogate District Hospital recorded another death of a patient who tested positive for covid.

It takes the death toll from covid at the hospital since March 2020 to 188.

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