First death of COVID-19 “second wave” confirmed in North Yorkshire as hospital admissions increase

In the latest update from North Yorkshire County Council, Chief Executive Richard Flinton said admissions were “creeping up” in the hospitals that serve the county.

He added: “It is with great sadness that I confirm the first COVID death of the second wave, here. This is set against the background of increasing infection rates across North Yorkshire – as in many places nationally.”

This week (September 27) there had been 3,630 positive tests in North Yorkshire since March 3. There have been 519 new cases reported in the past two weeks.  The weekly rolling average of new cases is 36 cases per day, but may be as high as 45 cases per day – allowing for incomplete data in recent days. Scarborough and Selby Districts remain on the Public Health England Watch List as ‘areas of concern’.

North Yorkshire’s care homes and supported living schemes have been advised to limit routine visiting during October to protect residents as COVID-19 infection rates rise across the county. 

‘School are safe places to be’

The council said in its latest update: “We’re pleased that the number of educational settings in North Yorkshire where a case of coronavirus has been confirmed remains very low. We are supporting not just our own schools in their coronavirus response, but also independent schools, academies, early years’ providers, Further Education settings and colleges. Of the hundreds of settings we are working with, we currently have 44 where a case of coronavirus has been confirmed.

“On the whole, cases in schools tend to be limited to one pupil, or one member of staff and most of our actions are centred around close contact isolation, rather than closing whole schools or bubbles.

“We are finding the risk assessments schools put in place before reopening in September are working well and have high levels of confidence that schools are safe places for children. It is vitally important that children and young people are in school, continuing their education and we are working hard to make sure everything is in place for this to happen.”

Richard Flinton said: “We are studying the data carefully and can clearly see that the majority of cases can be linked back to household and social transmission. This is important, because what it also tells us is that our schools are safe places to be. That, in turn, is testament to all the hard work schools, colleges and childcare setting have put in to plan for a safe return for pupils.

“Learning is critical to every young person’s future prospects and it can only be positive to say that where we are seeing infection in these settings, the intervention mechanisms linked to our outbreak management plan are extremely effective in containing them. To put that in perspective – there are around 1,000 education and childcare settings in North Yorkshire and only one of them is currently closed due to COVID.

'Areas of concern'

The Chief Executive said COVID-19 outbreaks in North Yorkshire workplaces and business settings were “well managed and less frequent”.

“The greatest areas of concern here currently are south Craven, particularly around the Skipton area, and Richmondshire, where there has been an increase in positive tests linked to the Catterick area. While in Craven the outbreaks are often amongst college and older school pupils, this is not generally linked to where the students learn but rather to their household or social activity.”

Meanwhile, 26 organisations across North Yorkshire have been granted up to £10,000 to enable them to keep supplying food to people in their locality.