North Yorkshire Police say that they have today sent out communication to all those currently signed up to receive our Community Messaging alerts to let you know that we are moving to a new platform.
All you need to do is click here and re-register to ensure you continue receiving our alerts. It’s essential you do this otherwise you won’t be kept up to date with the latest crime appeals, scam alerts and policing work in your local community.
Our current system will cease on 31st March 2021 and there will be a short pause in the alerts we send out whilst we get everything ready on the new system but you can keep up to date with your local policing team through their social media accounts which you can find here.
Thank you for your understanding whilst we make these important changes.
Fatality numbers are falling across the whole region.
Test results
There have been 12 new positive test results announced today. That brings the cumulative total to 12,128
The number of cases in the City has fallen by 3 from 68 yesterday to 65 today.
The rate /100k population has fallen to 30.86. It is expected to remain at around 30 for most of this week.
The rate at North Yorkshire level has fallen for the first time in several days.
The rate at regional level remains stubbornly high. It is over three times higher than the rate in York. The high number of cases in West Yorkshire casts a shadow over whether the promised easing of restriction in April will actually occur (unless stringent travel restrictions are maintained)
Neighbourhoods
Half of York’s neighbourhoods now have fewer than 3 cases in each.
No area has more than 8 cases. In January, one neighbourhood alone recorded over 144 cases.
Vaccinations
Tests
4310 PCR tests were carried out durng the week ending 17th March 2021
The positivity rate was 1.4% which is slightly higher than the previous days figure of 1.3%
In addition, 5701 “lateral flow” tests were conducted on 21st March
Transport mode use
The government has issued some experimental figures which demonstrate the changing travel choices that people have made during the pandemic. One set of figures covers the north east of England
Not surprisingly car use continues to be the preferred choice for most people although vehicle numbers remain well below what was seen before the pandemic hit.
Pedestrian and cycling movements fell to a record low in February (possibly because of the weather) but are now trending upwards.
Again perhaps not surprisingly, van movements have been relatively stable,
Use left hand axis for cars. Right for other modes.
Council urges to businesses to apply for “financial lifeline” before deadline
City of York Council is reminding eligible business who have not yet applied for Additional Restriction Grant (ARG) funding to do so before the 31 March 2021.
This additional funding has so far supported around 1,300 York businesses which have not been forced to close but have been severely impacted by restrictions.
As government support changes by level of restriction, different businesses qualify for ARG under November’s lockdown, the small number of days we spent under Tier 3 restrictions and now the third national lockdown.
As we move through the Government roadmap and businesses are able to reopen, ARG will be withdrawn on a sector by sector basis, following the published steps.
The scheme is available to:
businesses with permanent fixed premises in York, where trade is impacted by more than 75% due to lockdown, and who may or may not be liable for business rates in York (market stalls or pitches are not considered a fixed premises)
businesses where trade is usually conducted in York for 75% or more of the time, and where trade is severally impacted by the lockdown restrictions
The government sets national criteria for funds to be paid, our local offering uses those criteria. If eligible, businesses will receive different amounts depending on their circumstances.
Be aware that:
we’ll only consider paying grants to businesses where all of the eligibility criteria are met
grants to businesses will be treated as taxable income
for partnerships, each partner would need to make a separate application for the business to receive more than 1 grant
If eligible, the payment businesses receive depends on certain circumstances:
up to £1,334, per 28 days in Tier 3 or 4, for businesses with fixed commercial premises costs (rent payable to a landlord)
£500 per 28 day qualifying restriction period, for businesses without fixed premises costs*
£2,000 per 28 day qualifying restriction period, for businesses with a rateable value of more than £15,000, but less than £51,000
£3,000 per 28 day qualifying restriction period, for businesses with a rateable value greater than £51,000
* Examples include a mobile hairdressers (falling under leisure and beauty mandated to close), taxi drivers (leisure sector mandated to close) or commercial electricians (non-essential retail mandated to close), and market traders.
If your business still falls through the cracks of government schemes to please contact us as soon as possible at economicgrowth@york.gov.uk
