North Yorkshire residents urged to stick to the rules and look after each other as national lockdown comes into force
With COVID-19 case numbers rising rapidly across the whole of the UK and in other countries, the Government has today (Thursday, November 5) introduced new restrictions to reduce the spread of the infection.
People should stay at home, except for specific purposes and avoid meeting people they do not live with, except for specific purposes. Certain businesses and venues will also be closing for the duration of the lockdown until Wednesday, December 2 – click here for more information.
North Yorkshire had been on Medium Alert, the lowest level of local COVID-19 restrictions – but county council Chief Executive Richard Flinton warned “we were hanging by a thread in that position”.
He said in his latest update: “I would urge everyone to use these weeks to stick to the lockdown rules rigidly to help us come out of this on the other side in the best possible shape. While we are in Tier 1 today (November 4), we were hanging by a thread in that position and were under increasing pressure in some areas where positive COVID tests were above the England average.
The virus remains widespread across the county and we must not forget that. But if we can work together to get on top of that spread, we can drive those transmission rates down and help protect our families and help our businesses reopen. The goal here must be to save lives and protect the economy.
'Support'
The number of cases of COVID-19 in North Yorkshire continues to increase. At 1 November, there had been 8,425 positive tests since March 3, with 2,221 new cases reported in the previous two weeks. Over the previous week, the average number of new cases was about 161 cases per day. In the county, the North Yorkshire rate for COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population is currently lower than both the England and Yorkshire & Humber rates.
Further information on North Yorkshire data provided at county, district and local area level can be found here.
Support put in place by North Yorkshire County Council at the start of the first lockdown in March will continue throughout November and beyond. The county council has worked with the county’s seven district and borough councils and community organisations across North Yorkshire to coordinate volunteer and community support, ensuring everyone who needs help has someone they can call on.
People who need support with shopping, prescriptions, caring for pets and other essentials are encouraged to contact family, friends, neighbours or groups to which they belong. North Yorkshire residents without those local networks, or anyone concerned about the welfare of someone else, can contact the county council’s customer service centre on 01609 780780. The centre is open seven days a week, 8am to 5.30pm.
Mr Flinton said: “While we will miss not being able to be with friends, we also have an opportunity to help before us. To pursue those small acts of kindness that we do so well here and which make a big difference to others. Checking on neighbours, particularly those who are alone or isolated. Shopping for others when we shop for ourselves. Telephoning people to keep in touch. Using FaceTime, Skype, WhatsApp – a myriad of other ways to stay in touch.
While we will be closely following national guidance to protect our most frail residents, those in care settings, we will also be ensuring we find creative ways to help them see loved ones, virtually or face to face where that is safe and possible.
'Care home visits'
A few days before the latest lockdown, care homes in North Yorkshire had reopened to designated visitors. The Government said yesterday that care homes will be encouraged and supported to provide safe visiting opportunities as new national restrictions come into effect.
The new guidance states that all care home residents in England should be allowed to receive visits from their family and friends in a COVID-secure way – with social distancing and PPE – while national restrictions are in place from today.
“We know how very important it is to the mental health and emotional wellbeing of residents and their friends and families for visits to care settings to take place, if at all possible, without jeopardising safety,” said Richard Webb, North Yorkshire’s Director of Health and Adult Services.
“When COVID-19 infection rates began to rise across communities in September we asked care homes to pause routine visits so as to protect residents. However, we set up a task group which included residents and families to look into how visits could be made safe long-term.
“We acted on their recommendations so that from the start of November we could ask all care homes to be open for one visitor for each resident, subject to keeping to rules on hygiene, physical distancing and protective equipment.
“We are very pleased that the new national lockdown regulations will enable these visits to continue.”
'Schools latest'
School attendance at the start of the new term has remained high in North Yorkshire and is currently more than 90 per cent, which is well above the national average.
The county has four settings closed and 15 partial closures of classes or group bubbles out of approximately 1,000 educational settings, from nurseries to post-16 education and colleges currently being supported by North Yorkshire County Council.
From this month, schools can access support for children and young people most affected by school closures during the coronavirus outbreak, through the Government’s National Tutoring Programme. To register an interest in joining the programme, schools can visit the National Tutoring Programme website. There is also a webinar for schools today (Thursday, November 5) which will provide an introduction to the programme and details on how schools can get involved.
