Three covid cases reported in Harrogate district

Just three cases of covid have been reported in the Harrogate district, according to the latest figures from Public Health England.

It takes the total number of infections since last March to 7,576.

This is among the lowest daily case numbers reported since September 12, when two were reported.

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Meanwhile, the district hospital has gone 12 days without a death from a patient who tested positive for covid.

The last death reported at the hospital was March 16, according to the latest NHS England statistics.

It is the longest period without a coronavirus fatality since the 14 days from December 11 to December 25.

Harrogate district GPs start giving vaccine to under-50s

Some North Yorkshire GPs have vaccinated all top-priority patients and are using spare doses on under-50s, a chief nurse has said.

Sue Peckitt, chief nursing officer at NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said the county’s vaccination programme was going “exceptionally well”.

She added some surgeries had reached all eligible patients in the top nine priority groups two weeks earlier than expected.

Ms Peckitt added although bookings for all other adults aged under 50 were not yet open, some would soon be called up for last minute appointments using doses that would otherwise go to waste.

Speaking at a meeting of the North Yorkshire Outbreak Management Advisory Board today, she said:

“Many of our primary care networks are asking if they can move into the lower age cohorts and we are telling them to try not to unless it would mean vaccine wastage.

“We do know some of them have exhausted all of their eligible cohorts so you might start to hear some challenge coming back that some individuals below the age of 50 are starting to get pulled forward.”

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As of Friday, more than 404,000 people in North Yorkshire had received their first dose of a covid vaccine, with almost 40,000 people having received their second.

In the Harrogate district, a total of 82,118 people have had a first dose of a covid vaccine.

The figure for first doses across the UK is 30m and 3.5m for second doses.

The government aims to offer a first vaccine to about 32 million people in nine priority groups by 15 April and every other adult by the end of July.

The programme is now inviting those aged 50 and above who haven’t yet received jabs to book appointments after the first four groups – those aged 70 and over, care home residents, healthcare workers and people required to shield – were offered a jab by mid-February.

Ms Peckitt said while take up of the vaccine in North Yorkshire has been high, some residents were still reluctant to come forward.

She said:

“We are still trying to get the reminder of the eligible cohorts to come forward.

“There have been repeated calls to individuals that haven’t and we are working with them to try understand why they would not want to access the vaccine.”

Harrogate district gets NHS scheme to help children sleep

A project to help young people overcome sleeping difficulties has been extended to cover the Harrogate district.

NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group initially commissioned The Sleep Charity to run pilot projects in Whitby, Scarborough and Ryedale.

The scheme has now been extended to families across North Yorkshire for 12 months, starting on April 1.

The free scheme uses behavioural therapy, sleep clinics and workshops rather than medication to aid sleep.

It also provides professional training to GP practice staff, health visitors and school nurses.

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Research by The Sleep Charity, The Sleep Council and Sleepstation found that since the pandemic began, 70% of children are going to bed significantly later than usual.

Vicki Dawson, chief executive of The Sleep Charity, which is based in Doncaster, said:

“Quality sleep is absolutely essential for a child’s growth and development.

“It helps children to concentrate on learning, allows them to react more quickly to situations, have a more developed memory and solve problems.

“Plus, it makes them less susceptible to colds and other minor ailments, less irritable and better behaved.”

Dr Charles Parker, NHS North Yorkshire CCG clinical chair, said:

“We know how debilitating, disruptive and distressing it can be for families when a child is struggling to sleep, and we see first-hand how it can lead to a number of physical and mental health issues which require treatment.

“It’s heartening to hear that The Sleep Charity’s work has already made a huge difference to many families in Whitby, Scarborough and Ryedale and I’m delighted these services are now available across North Yorkshire.”

Families participating in the project gain access to the Teen Sleep Hub, which contains links to twice-weekly live chats with professional sleep practitioners.

The service is available for people aged 12 months to 18 years.

For children and young people with a special education need or disability and/or education health care plan, the service is available from ages 12 months to 25 years.

Access to the scheme is available by self referral. Email support@thesleepcharity.org.uk for details.

 

Live: Harrogate district traffic and travel

Good morning and welcome to the start of a new week. It’s Connor here giving you traffic and travel updates every 15 minutes.

Brought to you by The HACS Group, this blog will let you know how the road and rail links are near you.

Make sure to keep in touch via social media or email us on contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

9am – Full Update 

Roads

Thanks again for checking out our traffic and travel service. Don’t forget to send in all of your tips to keep everyone up to date. That’s all from me today, I am heading over to the news desk now but will be back tomorrow from 6.30am.

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Traffic hotspots:

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

8.45am – Full Update 

Roads

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Traffic hotspots:

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

8.30am – Full Update 

Roads

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Traffic is building up here:

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

8.15am – Full Update 

Roads

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Traffic is building up here:

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

8am – Full Update 

Roads

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Traffic is building up here:

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

7.45am – Full Update 

Roads

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Traffic is building up here:

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

7.30am – Full Update 

Roads

Traffic is starting to build in the Harrogate district this morning, particularly in Harrogate’s town centre.

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

7.15am – Full Update 

Roads

Traffic is starting to build in the Harrogate district this morning, particularly in Harrogate’s town centre.

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

7am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning, no traffic hotspots yet.

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

6.45am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning, no traffic hotspots yet.

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road in Harrogate for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

6.30am – Full Update 

Roads

The roads are looking clear so far this morning, no traffic hotspots yet.

Remember at 6.30pm today road repairs will start along Leeds Road for a month.

That means the roads from Beech Avenue, Harrogate, through to Princess Royal Way in Pannal will be closed in the evenings.

The Franklin Road area of Harrogate is also closed for road repairs.

Temporary lights in place:

Trains

Buses

Harrogate district outdoor sports clubs welcome easing of restrictions

Outdoor sports in Harrogate are gearing up for a return today as the government eases lockdown restrictions.

As part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “roadmap” out of lockdown, people can now meet up with six other people outside and play organised sport.

Sports facilities such as tennis and basketball courts, and open-air swimming pools, are allowed to reopen.

It comes as the “stay at home” rule in place for most of the national lockdown has also been lifted.

However, North Yorkshire Police has urged people to minimise travel and said the county should expect an “increased police presence” in the coming weeks.

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Among the sports that will be permitted as of today are cricket, football and rugby.

Steve Clark (left), chairman of Harrogate Cricket Club.

Steve Clark (left), chairman of Harrogate Cricket Club.

Steve Clark, chair of Harrogate Cricket Club, said the move was “good news” for the club ahead of the season starting in April.

He said:

“This is really good news for us.

“We can start to play cricket, but we are waiting for guidance from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

“There is a pent up demand for mums and dads to come down and watch some cricket.”

The season is expected to start on April 16 for juniors.

However, the club is still awaiting guidance on how they can hold coaching sessions and whether games need to be stopped to sanitise the ball every six overs.

Police urge people to minimise travel

Police and public health officials have urged people to minimise travel and work from home where they can, despite restrictions being lifted.

Ahead of the Easter weekend, officers have also said there will be an increased police presence across the county.

Superintendent Mike Walker, North Yorkshire Police lead for the force’s covid response, said: 

“We will continue to play our part in tackling the public health crisis through the Easter holidays and beyond.

“Each district has patrol plans in place to ensure there are sufficient resources to provide reassurance and continue our ‘4 Es’ approach – to engage with the public, explain the regulations, encourage compliance, and enforce if there is no other way of dealing with breaches.

“The patrol plans will reflect any changes in legislation post March 29 as part of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown. We will be able to communicate these changes and our approach once the new health protection regulations have been confirmed.

“When it is safe to do so, we will welcome visitors to the county again. However, everyone can expect to see an increased policing presence as we work alongside our partners to help keep the virus at bay in the weeks and months ahead.”

Stray Views: Do the planners actually get on their bikes?
Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. See below for details on how to contribute.

Do the planners ever cycle the routes they propose?

Why do North Yorkshire County Council feel it necessary to have a cycle lane to Knaresborough on the A59 when there is one already from Bilton Lane to Mother Shipton’s? It would be better if it was upgraded instead.

There is also an off road cycle path towards Harrogate from Knaresborough adjacent to the A59 but not as long as the one proposed. Interestingly the gradient from Mother Shipton’s to the junction of Bilton is around 3.13%.

They also give priority to traffic from the golf club. Further down there is an entrance to a farm field that also has priority over the cycle track.

It would be interesting to know how much cycling the people who plan these routes actually do. Or if they actually visit the sites rather than just viewing them on a two-dimensional drawing?

Catherine Alderson, Harrogate

Let’s have “wider thinking” on town planning

Members have contacted us with concerns about the proposed Station Gateway development and the potential negative impact in businesses.

Creating a better link between the train station (and bus station) and Harrogate town centre makes sense. Yet there has to be some doubt that these plans will really deliver those objectives.

We also have to consider the impact on businesses in Harrogate and the fact that Harrogate is a visitor destination, with many more people arriving by car than by bus or train.

My main concern is that this proposal is an example of “pocket thinking” in terms of planning. It feels opportunistic to do something because the money is coming from elsewhere. It is right to access funds, and yet in re-purposing a town such as Harrogate, there has to be a whole town approach as opposed to this pocket thinking of convenience.

By restricting traffic in one place, it is likely that congestion will move elsewhere and so there is no reduced traffic and no reduced carbon emission.

By improving the look and facilities in one part of town, does another part suffer from a lack of investment? In many ways the visual impression of James Street is an improvement. Interestingly it contains images of shops, and unless the footfall can be improved (footfall and accessibility go hand in hand), these shops will simply not exist. Furthermore, Harrogate has examples of pedestrianised areas that have not added to the image of the town, so the same mistakes should not be repeated.

Finally, will it be good for business?  These proposals remove parking spaces, forcing people to walk in, cycle in or take the bus. I suspect that the development of electric cars will move quicker than improvements in public transport, and yet more and more local authorities want to remove cars and accessibility.

Harrogate deserves wider thinking and ownership of a vision for the whole town rather than development in bite size chunks

Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association (former Harrogate resident)

Don’t give up Paul! 

To Paul Baverstock (Strayside Sunday)

Your Sunday messages are absolutely brilliant. I love ’em. I sincerely hope you don’t get assassinated by our Binary Democracy. Per Ardua Ad Astra.

Peter Bell

Read More:

 

Got an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

210 no-shows in two days at Knaresborough vaccine centre
The pharmacy that operates Knaresborough’s vaccine centre has urged people not to waste appointment slots after a spate of no-shows.
Homecare Pharmacy Services posted on its Facebook page today 210 people had failed to turn up for appointments in the last two days.
It added:
“We need these appointments for patients within our community who are struggling to get a vaccination.
“Please, please cancel your appointment if you are not planning on attending.”
Anyone unable to attend can cancel their booking online here, or by calling 119, the pharmacy added.
It is the second time the centre, which operates in the car park of the town’s former Lidl, has appealed to patients to honour bookings.
It posted on March 16 that 60 people failed to show at a clinic, adding:
“Please be considerate of others who are desperately trying to get appointments in the area.”
Homecare’s site last month became the third vaccine centre in the Harrogate district to open.
It administered its 5,000th vaccination on March 21.

Read more:

 

Twelve more cases of covid confirmed in Harrogate district

Twelve more cases of covid have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases since last March to 7,575.

Meanwhile, the seven-day covid rate for the district stands at 48 per 100,000 people.

Read more:

The North Yorkshire rate is 46 and the England average stands at 57.

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

The last death reported at the hospital was on March 16.

More than half of Harrogate district population receive covid vaccine

More than half of the Harrogate district’s population has received the first dose of a covid vaccine.

NHS England figures show 82,118 people have been vaccinated in the district so far.

The number represents 51% of the district population, which is 160,533 according to latest Office for National Statistics data.

It comes as more than half of the UK adult population have received a first dose of a vaccine.

Read more:

Earlier this week, Amanda Bloor, accountable officer at North Yorkshire CCG, said health bosses had been assured by government that there would be enough supply to vaccinate all over-50s by April 15.

A letter from NHS England to hospital bosses across the country warned of a shortage of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine from next month.

Those over-50 and people with underlying health conditions are currently being invited to book a vaccine appointment.

The Great Yorkshire Showground vaccine site has enough capacity to vaccinate 1,800 people per day.

The district also has vaccination centres in Ripon, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge.

Meanwhile, 14 further cases of covid have been recorded in the Harrogate district.

According to Public Health England figures, it takes the total number of cases since last March to 7,563.

Phoebe Graham to promote women and girls at Harrogate Cricket Club

Professional cricketer Phoebe Graham has agreed to become Harrogate Cricket Club’s ambassador for women and girls’ cricket.

Graham, who is contracted to Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the Northern Diamonds, will provide regular girls coaching.

She will also act as a consultant to the club on how to expand its number of female players and grow the game in the Harrogate district.

Graham, who is a fast bowler and qualified coach, will advise the club on formulating a schools’ programme to encourage more girls to take up cricket and help it work with other clubs in the area to promote women and girls’ cricket.

The club currently includes about 25 girls, whose season is due to start next month.

For the first time ever, Harrogate’s girls’ section has entered a team in to the Nidderdale under-13 boys league this summer.

Graham, who also runs a gender equality consultancy, will now build on work done by head junior coach Andy Hawkswell, along with Nat Crossland and Tim Robinson to further develop the girls’ section.

Club chairman Steve Clark said:

“This new partnership is an incredibly exciting one. We hope it will be a long-lasting relationship that ensures that women and girls’ cricket continues to grow and thrive in Harrogate.”

Graham said:

“Providing women and girls with opportunities to play sport is something that I am extremely passionate about and I love Harrogate’s commitment and long-term ambitions to grow the female section.”

Read more: