Harrogate and Ripon self-employed angry and fearful of second lockdown

Self-employed businesses in the Harrogate district have expressed fears for their future ahead of a second national lockdown.

Two local business owners told the Stray Ferret they had just started to see work return after the first lockdown only to be told that the country will shutdown again on Thursday.

Hannah Ruddy, whose business Musicality Kids provides music classes for children in Harrogate, said she spent £1,500 on making her classes covid-secure only to now see her work cancelled.

Read more:

Ms Ruddy added she and many other self-employed people had received no support since the start of the pandemic.

She was among those who were denied a discretionary grant of up to £10,000 in September because she did not have business premises.

Now she is concerned about the impact of another lockdown:

“I’m worried because I do not know where the money is going to come from and if I’m going to have to borrow again.

“I’m concerned about the communication and clarity about how long this is going to go on for.

“But, most of all, I’m angry at the lack of support for a large proportion of the self employed.”

‘No idea if we will survive’

Jennie Eyres, who runs a teacher training business in Ripon, has also received no financial support.

Besides her teaching business, Ms Eyres also runs a magazine that publicises activities for children.

Although she has had some work from schools, her businesses face uncertainty as lockdown looms.

She said:

“I still do not get any support and one business is severely hampered because the companies I work with are in the leisure and entertainment industries.”

Ms Eyres said it was the worry of “not knowing from one week to next” where work was going to come from which affected her the most.

She added she was fortunate her savings and her husband’s income had enabled her family to stay afloat during the pandemic.

When asked if she felt her businesses could survive a four-week lockdown, Jenny said:

“If it does go down, then we will have to tighten our belts and do something else. But I do not know, I literally have no idea.”

Furlough extension

The government announced an extension to the furlough scheme as part of the Prime Minister’s announcement on Saturday evening.

It will see the scheme extended to December and pay 80% of employee salaries up to £2,500 a month.

Yesterday, Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that the self-employed would be able to claim state aid of up to 80% of profits during the second lockdown.

Harrogate district floods: homes, cars and cows rescued

Emergency services in the Harrogate district have had a busy day rescuing people trapped by floodwater in their homes and cars — as well as saving a herd of cows.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service responded to reports of cattle stuck on the Ure bank in Ripon just before 2pm.

The river level in the area increased rapidly from below one metre to almost four metres today.

Appliances from Ripon, Richmond, Colburn and Selby used water rescue equipment to save the herd before leaving the incident in the hands of North Yorkshire Police.

Crew from Knaresborough and Wetherby rescued a female driver stuck inside a vehicle in flood water in Cattal shortly before midday.

Minutes earlier, firemen had removed water from a flooded home in Masham after the river burst its banks.

Read more:

At around 4pm crews in Ripon also rescued an elderly man from a car after he had driven into flood water.

Flood warnings remain in place for the River Nidd in Knaresborough and the River Ure at Masham.

The government’s flood information service posted an update on the situation in Masham this afternoon, which said:

“Please activate any property flood protection products you may have, such as flood barriers and air brick covers, and stay away from fast moving water.”

A further 53 cases of coronavirus confirmed in Harrogate district

A further 53 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases up to 2,300 since the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day case rate up to October 27 has dropped to 239 per 100,000 people. However this remains above the national average of 225.

Read more:

Currently, 16 patients who have tested positive for coronavirus are being treated at Harrogate District Hospital, according to figures from the hospital trust.

Since the start of the pandemic, 219 covid patients have been treated and discharged, including 14 in the last week, while 86 people have died after testing positive for the virus.

North Yorkshire is now the only county in the region which has not been moved up to a higher local lockdown tier.

From Monday, West Yorkshire and Leeds will be moved into tier three.

However, Richard Webb, director of adult care at North Yorkshire County Council, warned on Wednesday that the county could enter tier two before the end of the week.

Harrogate district’s coronavirus rate rises above national average

The Harrogate district’s seven-day coronavirus rate has risen above the England average, according to figures released today.

The district now has an infection rate of 242 per 100,000 people compared with a national average of 225. The figures are for the seven-day period to October 26

It comes as a further 58 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the district today.

It takes the total amount of cases since the start of the pandemic up to 2,247, according to Public Health England data.

Read more:

Meanwhile, Harrogate District Hospital has reported another death from a patient who tested positive for coronavirus. It is the third death reported in eight days.

According to NHS England figures, it takes the total number of deaths at the hospital to 87.

Yesterday, Richard Webb, director of adult care at North Yorkshire County Council, warned that the county could enter tier two restrictions by the end of the week.

Mr Webb told a briefing of North Yorkshire Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of agencies that tackle emergencies, that the situation in the county was “hanging by a thread” due to a rise in infections.

Harrogate district suffers record daily covid increase

Eighty-three people in the Harrogate district have tested positive for coronavirus in the last 24 hours, according to the latest daily figures by Public Health England.

It is the largest daily increase in the district since the pandemic began, beating the 63 infections recorded on October 20.

Today’s figure brings the total number of infections in the district since the start of the pandemic to 2,106.

Speculation is rising that North Yorkshire will enter tier two this week amid the rising number of cases.

The Harrogate district currently has a seven-day rolling average of 203 positive cases per 100,000 people, which despite rising sharply is nevertheless below the England national average of 220.

Read more:

According to government figures, the R rate for the district is 1.3.

Harrogate central, Harrogate west and Pannal, Boroughbridge and Marton-cum-Grafton and Killinghall and Hampsthwaite have experienced the highest number of infections in the district in the last seven days.

Ripon has experienced the lowest number.

Harrogate District Hospital has 12 coronavirus patients – three of whom are in intensive care.

 

 

Harrogate district’s coronavirus cases since March pass 2,000

A further 60 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 2,049.

It’s the second highest daily number of cases confirmed in the district so far in October.

Read more:

The highest figure came on October 4 when 67 cases tested positive. However, the number came after an IT error left many cases unreported.

Meanwhile, Harrogate District Hospital today recorded another coronavirus death.

According to NHS England figures, it takes the number of deaths at the hospital from patients who tested positive for coronavirus to 85.

The hospital recorded its first covid death in three weeks on October 22.

30 coronavirus cases confirmed in Harrogate district today

A further 30 coronavirus infections have been confirmed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours.

It takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,835, according to Public Health England figures.

Meanwhile, a further 122 cases have been reported in the whole of North Yorkshire.

The number of coronavirus infections in the Harrogate district has increased sharply since the second wave of infections.

Read more:

The latest rolling seven-day average to October 18 shows the district has a rate of 160 per 100,000 people.

The figure is the third highest of the seven North Yorkshire district council areas, behind Craven on 172 and Selby on 177.

The first coronavirus death in three weeks was reported at Harrogate District Hospital today.

 

Covid infection rate falls marginally in Harrogate district

The rate of covid infections in Harrogate has fallen marginally, according to figures today.

North Yorkshire County Council revealed the seven-day rolling average to October 17 was 159 cases per 100,000 people.

This is down on 161 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to October 16.

Harrogate’s rate is the second highest of the seven district council areas in North Yorkshire. Selby’s is the highest at 179 cases per 100,000 people.

A further 41 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours.

According to Public Health England figures, the increase takes the total number of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 1,761.

Another 164 cases have been confirmed county-wide, taking the total since the start of the pandemic to 6,134 in North Yorkshire.

Read more:

More than half of the cumulative total number of cases in the Harrogate district have occurred since the beginning of September.

Analysis of Public Health England data reveals the number of infections in the district has rocketed from 796 at the start of September to 1,720 yesterday.

 

Harrogate district covid rate rises to 158 per 100,000

The Harrogate district’s covid infection rate has risen to 157.9 per 100,000 people, it was revealed today.

The rate, which is based on a seven-day rolling average, is for the week to October 15.

It is marginally higher than the district’s seven-day rolling rate of 154 per 100,000 in the seven days to October 10.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health at North Yorkshire County Council, gave the figure at a meeting of the North Yorkshire Outbreak Management Advisory Board.

It means the district has the second highest rate of the seven district council areas in North Yorkshire behind Selby, where the rate is 160. Scarborough has the lowest rate at 90.

The figure for Greater Manchester is 432.5.

Another 28 further coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district in the past 24 hours, according to Public Health England.

It takes the total amount of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 1,720.

Read more:

Dr Sargeant said last week the main cause of spread of infection in the county was between households.

He added there had been “very, very few” infections spread between customers in pubs and hospitality.

Forty new covid cases confirmed in Harrogate district

A further 40 people have tested positive for covid-19 in the Harrogate district since yesterday.

It brings the total number of cases with positive tests in the district to 1,598 since the start of the outbreak.

There have been no deaths of patients with coronavirus at Harrogate District Hospital since September 29, with the total during the pandemic standing at 83.

One further person was this week reported to have died in a care home in the district after being diagnosed with the virus.

Read more:

The latest statistics show Harrogate has the highest rate of infections in the seven districts in North Yorkshire.

Latest weekly figures showed 154 cases per 100,000 people in the district. This compares with 151 in Selby, 147 in Craven and 138 in Hambleton. Richmondshire recorded 104, Scarborough had 94 and Ryedale 89.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons this week the government would consider a district-by-district approach to its new tier system.

Today, the government announced Lancashire would be placed in the highest tier of restrictions – but remains in dispute with the leaders of Greater Manchester over introducing further limitations there.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health for North Yorkshire, said the main cause of spread of coronavirus in the county was between households.

He said he supported the new tier system as it would help to tackle the spread in the county, but said there were “very few instances” of infection in hospitality.