HEALTH officials say there are early signs Covid infection levels are “creeping up” in North Yorkshire, although rates remain low, ahead of the key decision on whether to end all restrictions on 21 June. Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, told a briefing today that the county was “giving every inch of its fibre” to fully unlock on that date but a small rise in cases needed to be brought “under control”. Harrogate, Scarborough, Hambleton and Craven all saw a slight increase in weekly infection rates at the end of May, while Richmondshire and Selby recorded a decline and Ryedale remained without a single case.
NORTH Yorkshire health officials have called for continued caution as the county’s Covid situation remains “encouraging but volatile”. Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, said since the lifting of lockdown restrictions last week infection rates have fluctuated around national average levels with some small outbreaks causing slight changes in the numbers. He added, however, the wider Yorkshire region had some of the highest levels of infection in the country as he warned the public not to think the threat of coronavirus had gone away. “We still need to be careful and thoughtful,” Mr Webb told a North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum briefing today.
HEALTH officials have called for continued caution as North Yorkshire’s Covid situation remains ‘encouraging but volatile’. Out of England’s nine main regions, Yorkshire and the Humber currently has the highest weekly infection rate with 52.1 cases per 100,000 people. A breakdown of the figures for North Yorkshire shows the county is below this at 23.8, with Craven the second highest (28) after Selby (46.3) with Harrogate in third place (24.2). Meanwhile, more than 250,000 people in North Yorkshire have now received their first vaccine dose and 84,000 their second. Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, said since the lifting of lockdown restrictions infection rates have fluctuated around national average levels with some small outbreaks causing slight changes in the numbers.