Just 14 coronavirus cases in Harrogate district today

Coronavirus cases in the Harrogate district have continued to fall as the end of the second lockdown approaches.

Public Health England reported just 14 additional cases in the district today, down from a peak of 95 on November 9.

The Harrogate district now has the lowest infection rate of the seven district and borough council regions in North Yorkshire.

Its seven-day average rate is 97 cases per 100,000 people, which is also well below the England average of 160 per 100,000.

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Selby has the highest rate in North Yorkshire at 155 cases per 100,000 people, which is still below the national average.

The R number in the district has also fallen to 0.6. Any number below one means the spread of the virus is declining.

Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any additional coronavirus deaths.

The hospital has recorded 99 covid deaths since the start of the pandemic. The last death was recorded over the weekend but happened on Thursday last week,

More cases and one more coronavirus death in Harrogate

There are 22 new cases in the Harrogate district today as the hospital reports another coronavirus death.

Public Health England figures for the district, which have been dropping steadily since the start of November, are now at 3,536 cases overall.

Harrogate District Hospital is now at 99 coronavirus deaths in total after it reported one more death today.

The death, while reported today, happened on Thursday. November 26.

It also comes as the Harrogate district prepares to move into tier two restrictions on Wednesday as the national lockdown ends.

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How Harrogate district avoided toughest tier rules

The government has explained how the Harrogate district avoided the toughest tier rules.

While case rates had been rising rapidly before the latest lockdown, they are improving in all but one of the districts in North Yorkshire.

The rates are lower than other parts of Yorkshire and the Humber, most of which are in tier three.

Scarborough, while at a higher rate than the rest of North Yorkshire, has seen its cases falling.

Positivity of cases is at 8.5%. The government will keep an eye on these indicators and may even change the tiers in a couple of weeks when they are up for review.

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Areas in tier three tend to not only have higher rates than North Yorkshire but also have pressure on NHS hospitals.

Meanwhile there were no new deaths reported at Harrogate District Hospital. The total count remains at 98.

Daily cases also continue to fall in the Harrogate district. The latest figures show an increase of 14 today up to a total of 3,514.

Council hopes that North Yorkshire will move into tier one

The Harrogate district could move out of tier two into tier one if coronavirus infection rates continue to fall.

Local public health officials struck an optimistic tone in light of today’s announcement but warned against complacency.

They said in an emergency press briefing that it was possible for North Yorkshire to change tiers when they are up for review in two weeks.

Richard Flinton, chair of the the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, said:

“We are pleased that we are not in tier three. But I think we can say that this is not the time for complacency.

“We have to get into tier one and we need to use this time to drive down the virus in the county, we cannot be content in tier two.

“The winter period is a significant and potentially dangerous time in terms of how the virus could move.”

Currently there are more than 340 coronavirus patients in the hospitals that serve North Yorkshire.

That is higher than the first coronavirus wave when the patient numbers peaked at 302.

While the requirements for tier one are not entirely clear, the local officials set out some areas to look out for.

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Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health in North Yorkshire, said:

“There are some indicators that we have from before this lockdown that we can aim for.

“We need to get the case rate, the positive case rate, the rates in the over 60s and the patients in hospitals down.

“I believe it is possible for us to have a safe Christmas and at the same time for the virus not to rebound in January.”

As North Yorkshire is surrounded by tier three areas there are concerns that visitors will try to take advantage of the lower restrictions.

Mike Walker, North Yorkshire Police’s assistant chief constable and gold commander leading the force’s coronavirus response, said:

“It is not acceptable for someone to travel out of a tier three area without a suitable reason. We do have enforcement powers in place to stop people doing this.

“We are one of the forces that issued the highest amount of fixed penalty notices at the start of the lockdown.”

Harrogate district to enter tier two restrictions

The Harrogate district will enter tier two restrictions at the end of the national lockdown.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, will set out the rules each area will be under in the House of Commons today.

However, a government website that has since crashed pre-empted the announcement. Here’s the full list.

When you put in a local postcode it says that the Harrogate district and North Yorkshire is under tier two.

The district is in tier two.

The new rules will come into force next Wednesday, December 2. It is unclear when the restrictions will come to an end.

North Yorkshire had been in tier one restrictions before the second national lockdown.

Local public health officials said in a press briefing yesterday that the coronavirus rates are an indicator of the different tiers.

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Most of North Yorkshire is below the England average seven-day rate of 201 cases per 100,000.

Scarborough and Selby are the only local areas above the national average. They have rates of 280 and 232 respectively.

While Harrogate and Ryedale have the lowest case rates in the area with 147 and 132.

The local officials also said that they would favour a system where North Yorkshire is split into different districts.

What are the rules in tier two?

Tier two:

What about Christmas?

Coronavirus restrictions will be eased across the UK between December 23 and December 27 to allow for a Christmas closer to normal.

It will mean that three households will be able to form a temporary bubble. It must be fixed but there will be no limit on numbers joining bubble.

Those who are self-isolating should not join one of these so-called Christmas bubbles.

If someone is in an at-risk group the government has said they must their their own judgement and consider the risks of mixing over Christmas.

Harrogate district’s tier 1 hopes boosted

Harrogate and North Yorkshire’s hopes of being placed in tier one restrictions when lockdown ends next week received a boost today as daily covid infections continued to fall sharply.

The Harrogate district recorded just 11 new positive cases — the lowest daily number since October 1, according to Public Health England figures today.

It takes total cases since the pandemic began to 3,420.

Meanwhile, North Yorkshire as a whole recorded just a further 115 cases.

The county is expected to learn which tier it will come under in the coming days as part of the government’s new restrictions.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined the new system to MPs in the House of Commons this afternoon.

It will see the first tier toughened up with people encouraged to work from home, while pubs and bars in tier two areas will be asked to close unless they serve substantial meals.

Last orders at pubs will now be called at 10pm, with drinkers allowed until 11pm to finish their drinks.

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Tier three, the highest restrictions, will see hospitality closed and no mixing of households both indoors and outdoors.

The county’s public health bosses had called for stronger restrictions on the lowest tier after the last system “did not really work”.

Regions across the country are due to learn which restrictions they fall under on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Harrogate district’s seven-day rate has also fallen below 200 for the first time in a month to 190 per 100,000 people.

A further two coronavirus deaths have also been recorded at Harrogate District Hospital in the latest NHS England figures.

One death was recorded on November 21, while another happened on November 17. It takes the total number of deaths at the hospital up to 95.

A further 37 cases of coronavirus in Harrogate district

A further 37 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to Public Health England figures today.

It takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic up to 3,350.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day rate continues to track below the national average.

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Currently, it stands at 221 per 100,000 people compared with the England average of 248.

The weekly covid rate fell below the England average this week for the first time since October.

Harrogate district covid rate falls below England average

The Harrogate district’s seven-day covid rate has fallen below the national average for the first time since October.

The weekly average for the district now stands at 245 infections per 100,000 people, compared with 263 for England.

The rate has fallen from a record high of 307 last week, which was the second highest rate in North Yorkshire.

It’s the first time the rate has been below the national average since October 25.

But Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health at North Yorkshire County Council, warned that some figures could have been affected by recent changes in how cases are recorded.

Public Health England now reports cases based on where the test was carried out, instead of where a person is registered with the NHS.

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The change has seen Harrogate’s total cases drop by 201.

It comes as a further 59 positive tests were confirmed in the district in the last 24 hours, according to Public Health England.

The number takes the total amount of cases since the start of the pandemic to 3,313.

Meanwhile, Dr Sargeant told a North Yorkshire Outbreak Management Advisory Board meeting today the lowest level of restrictions could be “somewhat stronger” after lockdown.

The country is set to exit the second shutdown on December 2, but ministers have yet to decide what the tier system will look like in two weeks time.

Dr Sargeant said previously that the first tier, which North Yorkshire was under before lockdown, “did not work” and “had no teeth”.

He added that officials at the council expected an announcement on the new restrictions at the end of next week.

Simon Weaver tests positive

Elsewhere, Simon Weaver, Harrogate Town manager, is expected to miss his team’s trip to Leyton Orient this weekend after testing positive for coronavirus.

He tested positive earlier this week after going into precautionary self-isolation before the Crawley Town game on November 14.

Paul Thirwell, assistant manager, will take charge this weekend while Weaver continues to isolate.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.”