Harrogate District Hospital has urged people to wear face masks on inpatient wards and practice social distancing amid fears of more covid cases during the winter.

Officials at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust have reiterated the advice for those visiting wards for the protection of staff and patients.

In a statement, the trust said visitors should follow the guidance in order to prevent the spread of the virus within the hospital.

It said:

“Covid has not gone away and it is important that we protect everyone who enters our hospitals.

“As such, anyone entering inpatient areas, such as wards must wear a mask, ensure they sanitise their hands and maintain social distancing.

“Following these protocols will help us to protect our patients, but also our staff, as reducing the risk of our staff catching covid will ensure our patients’ care is not disrupted.”

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The move comes as health bosses are urging those eligible to book a covid booster vaccine ahead of winter.

In Harrogate, vaccinations are available at the Great Yorkshire Showground site.

This week, walk-in appointments are available every day until Thursday from 8.15am until 5.30pm.

The site will be carrying out vaccinations until November 23 when it closes.

People aged 50 and over, pregnant women, carers, frontline health and care workers, care home residents and people of all ages who are vulnerable are eligible for a covid booster jab now.

Those who are able to book their vaccinations can do so via the NHS website.

The Harrogate district covid infection rate is currently 61 cases per 10,000 people.

Ripon City Council has issued new covid guidance in the run-up to staging another large public event in the Market Square this weekend.

The guidance follows measures brought in by the government this week to combat the Omicron variant of the disease.

The first of two artisan Christmas markets will be held on Sunday, alongside free fairground rides for children and a festive grotto with Santa (pictured below).

The city council said in a statement:

“Anyone who is planning on attending our events is encouraged to take a lateral flow test beforehand to help to stop the spread of covid.

“Please help us by following the guidance below if you are visiting our grotto, fairground and Christmas market on December 5 and 12.”

The guidance is as follows:

• People going to events are strongly advised to take a lateral flow test at home before attending
• Anyone with a positive test result must stay at home, and household members should follow national guidance for close contacts
• Face coverings should be worn indoors and in crowded spaces
• Keep a respectful social distance between yourselves and people who are not in your group
• Do not travel to the event if you are feeling unwell. If you start to feel unwell whilst at an event, you should leave the site immediately
• Follow all covid-19 measures in place at events, including regular hand hygiene

Knaresborough traders have said they are overjoyed by the news that the town’s social distancing cones are due to be removed this evening.

Harrogate’s social distancing planters were taken away this morning and parking bays were restored.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, North Yorkshire County Council‘s executive member for access, told the Stray Ferret the cones would be removed by the end of today.

The cones were put up to give shoppers more space to spread out but the loss of prime parking spaces on High Street has upset some traders.

Carol Scanlan, the owner of Carol’s Bonnie Dogs on the high street, said:

“They should have been removed yesterday. Lockdown has finished, according to the government so why are they still there? I want them gone. It’s frustrating when my customers have nowhere else to park, we’ve had enough now.”

Martin Sturdy, the owner of card and gift shop ZigZag said:

“They have served their purpose now. People haven’t really been using the extra space recently. The high street has suffered because people can’t park up so they end up missing shops. Good riddance to them, I shall welcome their removal.”

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The planters in Harrogate town centre were removed from about 9am this morning, prompting questions about where they will end up.

People have called on social media for the flowers not to go to waste and suggested they were planted elsewhere, such as in Valley Gardens, or given to local community groups.

Andrew Hart, a businessman from Bilton, suggested they could be donated to Starbeck in Bloom or other similar groups.

The Stray Ferret asked Harrogate Borough Council what had happened to the planters but has yet to receive a reply.

All street planters and cones used to promote social distancing in the Harrogate district are set to be reviewed next month.

North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) has confirmed that the measures will remain in place until the review, which is due to be held at the end of June.

It comes amid growing calls for their removal in the form of a petition and a group of businesses in Knaresborough.

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Those people believe that Harrogate and Knaresborough need parking spaces more than the social distancing enforcements as the lockdown eases.

The county council closed off parking bays in the towns at the start of the pandemic to give pedestrians more room to spread out.

Under the Government’s roadmap, all social distancing measures are set to be dropped on June 21. That is around the time NYCC will hold its review.

A council spokesperson said:

“We can confirm all social distancing measures will be in place until the review at the end of June.

“We have met regularly with local councillors and representatives from the town council and chamber of trade over the past 12 months to ensure that the social distancing measures in place are appropriate.

“No businesses have sent us a request to remove them.”

The use of planters on James Street in Harrogate for social distancing purposes is set to be reviewed as lockdown restrictions ease.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, North Yorkshire County Council‘s executive member for access, told the Stray Ferret the issue would be reviewed next month.

June 21 is the date in the roadmap when the government is due to lift all limits on social contact.

At the start of the pandemic North Yorkshire County Council closed off parking bays to give pedestrians more room to spread out, in a move that upset some businesses.

A year later, planters and traffic cones remain on several streets in Harrogate and Knaresborough and it’s unclear how long they will stay.

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The measures continue to be a bone of contention. Harrogate Residents Association has set up a petition calling for their removal. So far, 561 people have signed.

Anna McIntee, one of the association’s founders, said:

“Please remove the planters that are blocking parking for customers on James Street and Albert Street in Harrogate town centre.

“It’s vital customers have convenient access to our shops as they try to recover from the pandemic.”

A full English breakfast inside pubs was back on the menu this morning as England’s lockdown restrictions eased.

For Eddie and Shirlie Button it meant a welcome return to The Unicorn, Ripon’s largest pub and hotel.

The couple, who are regulars for full English breakfasts, as well as for coffee and curry nights at the Wetherspoon pub, were the first customers through the door today at 8am.

Like other pub-goers across the district, they were thrilled to be able to eat indoors after such a cold few weeks.

Mr Button told the Stray Ferret:

“Before the lockdown, we would normally come for breakfast on a Sunday. We will probably come a couple of times this week, as a bit of a treat.”

Mrs Button is pleased to be able to put the frying pan back in her kitchen cupboard. She said:

“I’ve been cooking breakfasts at home for more than four months.

“We created our own ‘Spoons-style service.”

Eddie and Shirlie Button, were the first customers for more than four months to eat inside the Wetherspoon-owned pub.

The Unicorn’s deputy manager, Jonny Mahoney, said:

“It’s great to be able to welcome people back.

“Because our beer garden is relatively small, we decided not to open an outdoor service in April and waited until today.”

The hotel, which has more than 30 rooms, will reopen for guests this evening and the pub will be open from 7am until 12noon Monday to Thursday and 7am until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Social distancing and hygiene measures are in place alongside online and paper-based track and trace.

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This column is written for the Stray Ferret by Kimberley Metcalfe. Kimberley has an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare. Her company Pooches Galore is based in Harrogate and specialises in dog training and resolving canine behavioural problems.

As we are in the midst of another national lockdown one phrase that we have heard over and over again is ‘social distancing’. The thought that we cannot be close to others is an alien one to us. And the same goes for dogs: we spend a lot of time when our puppies are young encouraging them to be friends with every dog they see. Unfortunately, not all dogs grow up to want to be around other dogs – it makes them feel anxious or scared and this anxiety manifests as aggression.

As a behaviourist, I work daily with dogs who cannot cope when other dogs invade their personal space. For the owners in this situation the sight of another dog bounding over towards them is terrifying. This over excited, bounding dog, is often paired with an owner calling out “it is ok, they are friendly!”.

Unfortunately for the anxious dog, their brain is unable to compute this as friendliness. Instead their fight or flight system has been activated, and being trapped on a lead often leads to only one outcome: fight. The sympathetic nervous system releases several brain chemicals to help with the survival of the animal and the dog is no longer thinking rationally.

As a dog owning community, we need to help these anxious dogs by keeping social distanced not just from a human standpoint but for our dogs too. This is especially true when we see other dogs on a lead.

For most of us, our dogs leads are for keeping them next to us when we are on a walk, however, for owners of reactive dogs they can feel like the only way to have control over situations.

Of course, there are other reasons that dogs are on leads: they could run off when the owner unclips the lead, they could be in pain or be injured, they could be old or in season. However, for any or all of these dogs, having dogs run up into their face can cause a lot of frustration or anxiety and this in turn can become aggression over time.

So, let’s make a promise, if we see another dog off the lead, or an owner who is working hard to keep their dog calm in the presence of others, we help them out – keep our dogs close to us, under control, increase social distance. With reactive dogs it often takes a village – or in our case a town.

Harrogate Borough Council has said it has no plans to close the open spaces it manages amid concerns about the number of people using them.

City of York Council closed Rowntree Park on Saturday after police and council officers received reports of groups gathering, in contravention of social distancing rules.

Government ministers have also urged people only to visit parks to exercise.

Some claimed on social media that people in Harrogate also broke social distancing rules over the weekend when they were enjoying the snow in Valley Gardens.

However, a Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson told the Stray Ferret:

“We’ve not had reports of people mixing against the rules. As you know enforcement of the law is an issue for the police rather than us.

“There are no plans to close, or restrict access to, the open spaces we manage.”

We also asked Yorkshire Water, which manages Fewston and Swinsty reservoirs whether it had any plans to restrict access but had not received a reply by the time of publication.

Update – A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water has since sent the following statement:

“Currently our car parks remain open but we are continually reviewing in line with the most recent Government advice.

“We would urge anyone thinking of visiting our reservoirs during lockdown to follow Government advice and stay local to their area.”

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Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in the government press conference yesterday:

“People should only be meeting with one other person. We have seen some large groups mixing. We do not want to change the rules, it can be the only contact for some.

“It is OK to go for a walk with one other person if you stay two metres apart. Just don’t say you are exercising when you are socialising.”

The Navigation Inn in Canal Road, Ripon, hopes to reopen on Wednesday after temporarily closing because a customer tested positive for coronavirus.

Manager and licence holder Chloe Smith said on the pub’s FaceBook page on Sunday evening:

“After a long day, of many conversations with different professionals, I have spoken in depth with Public Health England, and they have advised that we are fine to reopen the pub.”

She added:

“For the next three days the pub will be deep cleaned each day.”

Staff at the Navigation Inn, Ripon

All staff will be tested for the virus and if tests come back negative the pub hopes to reopen on Wednesday.

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The decision to close temporarily was taken to ensure the safety of customers and staff and came after the pub’s management was informed that a person who visited on Thursday, August 13, had subsequently tested positive for coronavirus.

Following lockdown in late March caused by the coronavirus crisis, pubs and other hospitality businesses across the country were only allowed to reopen on July 4 when the government eased social distancing rules, reducing the distance from two metres to one.

Strict hygiene and safety requirements, including provision of hand sanitisers at entry and exit points and the installation of screens to protect bar staff, are in force and pub goers are required to complete NHS Test and Trace forms.

Official government advice on Test and Trace is as follows:

“If you receive a request for information from NHS Test and Trace this does not mean that you must close your establishment. NHS Test and Trace will, if necessary, undertake an assessment and work with you to understand what actions need to be taken.

“Depending on the circumstances and the length of time that has elapsed, this could include arranging for people to be tested, asking them to take extra care with social distancing and/or – in some circumstances – asking them to self-isolate.

“NHS Test and Trace will give you the necessary public health support and guidance. Your staff will be included in any risk assessment and NHS Test and Trace will advise them what they should do.”

Parliament Street and Kings Road could be partly pedestrianised

Parliament Street and Kings Road in Harrogate could be partly pedestrianised to encourage social distancing when bars and restaurants reopen.

However, The Stray Ferret understands this is unlikely to be put in place this weekend.

North Yorkshire County Council said it is working with Harrogate BID, Harrogate Borough Council and local businesses to allocate pavement space to bars and restaurants, which would make part of the roads off-limits to cars.

David Bowe, corporate director for business and environmental services at NYCC, said they will only close roads “if there is a clear demand”.

He said:

“We are prepared to close roads in order to support economic recovery but it has to be on the basis of demand and need. If there is a road that we can practically close, even for part of a day, without adversely affecting access, we will be happy to work to achieve that, provided a business definitely wants to use the space.

James Street, Albert Street and parts of Royal Parade currently have cones placed in the road to widen pavements. However, they have been controversial and North Yorkshire County Council has taken them down on West Park after pressure from businesses.

Two streets that could be partly pedestrianised are Parliament Street and Kings Road.

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Jim Mossman, co-founder of the Cold Bath Brewing Co on Kings Road, told The Stray Ferret he had been in discussions with North Yorkshire County Council about road space being re-allocated.

He said:

“If we can create an al fresco type experience in Harrogate then it will help save jobs and businesses in the town.”

Michael Baravelli, general manager at Gino D’Acampo on Parliament Street also said pedestrianisation would help trade at the restaurant.

He said:

“We are working alongside North Yorkshire County Council with the idea and suggestion of putting extra seating outside to give us more street presence. In these summer days, it will help us immensely.”