Collect coronavirus tests at 25 pharmacies in Harrogate district

Twenty-five pharmacies in the Harrogate district have signed up to become collection points for coronavirus tests and more are expected to come on stream in the coming days.

Rapid lateral flow tests are now freely available for people who do not have covid symptoms as part of government attempts to control the spread of the virus.

The NHS map showing collection points has 14 sites in Harrogate, five in Knaresborough, three in Ripon and one in Boroughbridge, Pateley Bridge and Masham respectively.

It is a major improvement since the initiative began on Friday when only a single pharmacy in Knaresborough was signed up to the scheme.

Such sites enable people to take rapid lateral flow tests twice a week. If someone tests positive they then need to take a more accurate PCR test.

Public health officials hope the pharmacies and a mobile testing unit will plug a potential gap in collection points, which could be left when the Dragon Road testing site in Harrogate closes on June 1.

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Health officials told a coronavirus press briefing today that they are still working with Harrogate Borough Council to find a replacement site for PCR testing.

As well as pharmacies and testing sites, people can also order tests to be sent to their homes, or get tests through work or school.

Dr Victoria Turner, a public health consultant, told today’s press briefing of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum:

“We are in the best position in terms of case numbers for about six months, we are not quite at the low levels of last summer yet.

“But with lockdown rules easing there is a chance that cases will start to rise. Test positivity has come down in recent weeks and there has been a significant increase in lateral flow testing.

“We have had lots of pharmacies sign up to the national testing programme but we are expecting even more to come online in the next few days.”

Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, also said:

“Just on the point of lateral flow tests, I was in a pharmacy the other day and asked about the interest in testing.

“They told me that they have had the most interest from those who are over 50. It might be that younger people are going through other outlets but it is something to explore.”

Harrogate District Hospital currently has just five coronavirus patients but recently reported its first covid death in nearly two weeks.

The seven-day average rate of infection now stands at 16 per 100,000 people in the district. The North Yorkshire seven-day rate is 21 and the England average is 36.

Covid cases in Harrogate district rise by 53

A further 53 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district today.

It brings the total diagnosed with the virus to 6,321 since the start of the pandemic.

The seven-day average rate of infection for the district has risen slightly to 292.9 per 100,000, compared to 284 yesterday.

Meanwhile, the seven-day average for the whole of North Yorkshire is now 273.3. Craven and Selby remain the districts with the highest rate in the county, each at just over 300.

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No further deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital in today’s figures from Public Health England.

The latest figures show the hospital is currently treating 44 inpatients with covid.

Harrogate district has 23 new covid cases today

A further 23 people have received positive tests for covid-19 in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours.

The figures released by Public Health England today reveal that a total of 3,805 people in the district have been diagnosed with the virus since the pandemic began.

Meanwhile, today’s figures also show that a further 1,307 people across Yorkshire and the Humber have tested positive. The total number of positive cases in the region since the outbreak started now stands at 226,546.

Across North Yorkshire, 646 new cases have been confirmed in the last seven days, of which 153 were in the Harrogate district.

The seven-day average case rate for the Harrogate district up to December 6 remains at 95 per 100,000 people. It had peaked at more than 300 in early November.

The rate for North Yorkshire as a whole is slightly higher, at 104.5.

As the vaccine roll-out begins, an announcement is expected next week about where in North Yorkshire it will be delivered. Up to now, vaccinations have only been carried out at central points, with the closes to Harrogate being Leeds.

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Harrogate district misses out on mass coronavirus tests

North Yorkshire was not included in a government list today of local authority areas that will receive mass coronavirus tests, which deliver results in less than an hour.

The Department of Health and Social Care announced a batch of more than 600,000 quick turnaround test kits will be sent to 67 local authorities — about half of the total in England.

The first 10,000 will be sent this week and will be followed by further weekly allocations. Each area will decide which priority groups to test.

Some parts of Yorkshire, including Calderdale, Kingston upon Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire were included.

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But North Yorkshire was not on the list.

Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, told the Stray Ferret council bosses will discuss tomorrow whether or not to bid to be included in the next phase of the mass testing programme.

He added the county would be a “good experiment” for the government because it is so big.

Cllr Les said:

“It would be a good area to prove a point, whether or not it would be a great benefit for North Yorkshire residents is another thing.”

The government said the areas chosen for the first phase of the rollout were based on locations with a “local prevalence of covid” and those that expressed an interest.

Liverpool pilot

Ministers rolled out the first rapid tests in Liverpool last week.

More than 23,000 people were tested in the city across 18 test centres, including Liverpool’s Anfield stadium. Of the number, 154 people tested positive.

Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said the rollout was designed to expand testing for those who are asymptomatic. He said:

“Last week we rolled out mass testing in Liverpool using new, rapid technology so we can detect this virus quicker than ever before, even in people who don’t have symptoms. Mass testing is a vital tool to help us control this virus and get life more normal.”

A further 59 covid cases confirmed across Harrogate district

Another 59 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district today.

It brings the total number of people in the district confirmed to have the virus to 1,989 since the start of the pandemic.

Today’s figures also show there have been no further deaths at Harrogate District Hospital, with the total number of covid-related fatalities there still standing at 84.

Across Yorkshire and the Humber, 14 deaths were confirmed today, out of a total of 76 across England. The region had 2,380 positive covid tests confirmed today, bringing the total in the pandemic to 108,580.

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Another 43 coronavirus cases confirmed in Harrogate district

A further 43 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the past 24 hours across the Harrogate district.

The figure brings the district’s total number of confirmed cases since the start of the outbreak to 1,930.

There have been no further deaths reported in patients with covid 19 at Harrogate District Hospital, after one was confirmed on Thursday for the first time in three weeks. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 84 patients have died at the hospital after testing positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, a new testing facility has opened at the Dragon Parade car park in Harrogate this week, offering tests seven days a week.

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Though the number of infections continues to rise, health leaders in North Yorkshire have offered some reassurance about the overall picture.

Speaking on Wednesday, Amanda Bloor, accountably officer at North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said Harrogate District Hospital was treating 10 covid-positive in-patients, with one in intensive care. In September, the hospital confirmed it had set aside 100 beds to treat patients with the virus through the winter.

Ms Bloor added:

“We are seeing the number of inpatient admissions with covid increasing, but we are not yet at the levels of hospitalisations that we were back at the beginning and in the middle of April.

“We have currently got 116 people in hospital beds; we had in excess of 300 in early April.

“It is a relatively stable position, although we are seeing a slight upward trend in terms of those numbers.”

However, the Nightingale hospital – which has 500 beds at Harrogate Convention Centre to treat patients from across Yorkshire and the Humber – was last week put on stand-by by the government to take patients as infection numbers around the region continue to rise.

Harrogate to get permanent Covid testing site

A permanent coronavirus testing centre for winter is to be built in Harrogate in the next few weeks.

A mobile testing site at the Dragon Road car park near Asda currently operates in the town, usually for four hours twice a week,

But with the number of infections rising, the same site will be upgraded to host a permanent testing centre over winter.

Advance bookings will still be required.

Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of public agencies, confirmed at a briefing today construction will begin on Thursday next week. It is hoped the site will be open by October 22.

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Currently, the Department of Health and Social Care runs mobile testing units in different areas of the county every week.

The new Harrogate site is expected to be similar to the one at the University of York, which opened last week and operates seven days a week.

What will happen to the facility beyond winter remains unclear,

Richard Webb, director of adult social care at North Yorkshire County Council, said the authority had worked hard to retain the testing capacity it has and to lobby the government for further sites.

He told the resilience forum briefing:

“We have been fortunate to retain our testing capacity when other parts of Yorkshire have seen it stretched.”

Seven new covid cases in Harrogate district

A further seven new covid cases have been diagnosed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours.

The figures, produced by Public Health England, take the total number of confirmed cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 933.

However, residents across the Harrogate district have reported difficulty in accessing testing, even when they have symptoms. A mobile testing unit visits Harrogate’s Dragon Road car park twice a week.

The latest figures come amid a picture of a growing number of cases across the country, as the government prepares to introduce further restrictions in an attempt to reduce the spread.

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Last week, North Yorkshire declared a major incident amid an increase in cases in the county. Selby and Scarborough districts have also been listed as “areas of concern” by the government.

However, Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any deaths in patients with covid since July 19.