Coronavirus York updates; 29th October 2020

Deaths and test results

ONE additional death at the York Hospital Trust was announced today. It occurred on Tuesday.

There were 52 (FIFTY TWO) additional positive test results announced today. That is the smallest increase for 2 weeks. The total number of cases is now 3589

By Sunday the rate per 100k population had fallen to 257.35. That is the smallest rate since 7th October.

Overall the number of cases in the City is now falling with more neighbourhoods now below national infection levels.

There maybe some cautious room for optimism

Those hoping for a return to Tier 1 status may have to wait for a while. York still has the highest infection rate in North Yorkshire albeit it is falling while some other areas are seeing an increase.

Around 1000 tests are being carried out each day in York. Positivity rates are steady at around 1 in 5.

The authorities are now publishing details of the age groups of York people testing positive for COVID. The highest number of cases continues to be concentrated in the 10 – 29 age range.

Positive test results by age group in York

COVID impact on local crime levels

According to North Yorkshire Police the Office of National Statistics (ONS) quarterly crime report begins to reveal the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on crime in the county.

Read the ONS report here

North Yorkshire Police’s crime reporting shows a level of consistency in crimes recorded year on year, although there are a number of notable changes through the months of March to June 2020.

Burglary, theft, vehicle crime and criminal damage a marked decrease which can be attributed to the national lockdown imposed on 23 March. Whilst violent crime showed a minor increase year on year thought to be a result of a change in reporting – this also experienced a decrease through the months of April and May, another change likely to be as a result of the lockdown.

In line with this, the number of sexual crimes recorded have decreased but reporting rates have not fallen at the same pace which positively indicates that victims still have the confidence to come forward and report incidents.

Levels of reported domestic abuse have continued to rise year on year, an increase which can partly be attributed to the requirement to record multiple crimes where stalking and/or harassment has occurred, rather than simply one crime per incident. Partner agencies, charities and other organisations which support domestic abuse victims have reported a rise in demand for their services over the last few months and Detective Superintendent, Allan Harder, explains more:

“Whilst we were hearing of this increased demand from our partners and in the national media, the number of domestic abuse incidents reported to North Yorkshire Police has remained level. Although victims have been seeking additional support, this is not associated with a significant rise in reported incidents.

“That said there was clearly a need for information and advice to be shared as widely as possible so along with our partners we have been working hard to address this. As well as signposting victims to the wealth of support available, we have created videos discussing a range of topics and continue to send a strong message that the police are very much still here to help and do whatever we can to safeguard anyone experiencing domestic abuse.”

Incidents of fraud recorded have continued to rise over the last three years, an increase which can be attributed to both changes in the way it is reported and work to address the fact it is one of the most underreported crimes. Head of North Yorkshire Police Economic Crime Unit, Detective Inspector Jon Hodgeon explains:

“Victims often do not report fraud as they may feel embarrassed to have been scammed or may think there’s no chance of getting back money they have lost but even if there are no lines of enquiry, we want to help ensure that individual does not become a victim again. To be able to provide victims support and prevention advice, we encourage victims to report fraud directly to North Yorkshire Police, rather than Action Fraud, so we can provide this support and prevention advice.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has put a stop to our regular face-to-face fraud prevention presentations and workshops so we’ve had to find new ways to reach people with prevention messages, including regular Facebook Live sessions and other virtual events which have been very well-received. We’ve also seen a number of new scams emerge with the pandemic providing the perfect cover for many fraudsters and old scams coming back into the fore so we’ve worked hard to keep North Yorkshire residents as up to date as possible.”

North Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable, Mark Pannone, said:

“It is clear to see the impact of Covid-19 and the national lockdown on these latest figures and whilst this has meant some reduction in crime, we must not be complacent. We may be seeing less of some types of crime but we know the need for community support and helping individuals to feel safe is more important than ever before.

“We have moved some of our prevention and safeguarding support to online channels and I can reassure our communities that we are still very much here for you. We know this is a really difficult time for our communities and we are adapting to the challenges presented by the pande

Coronavirus York updates; 27th October 2020

Deaths and test results

ONE additional death announced at York Hospital Trust. Occurred on Sunday

No further care home deaths

60 (SIXTY) additional positive test results brings total to 3457

7 day cases per 100k population figure falls below 300 as infection rate continues to stabilise. Rates in Heslington and Tang Hall falling

Some additional neighbourhoods now have infection rates above the national average. Recent surge in case numbers in + Heworth South and The Groves.

Live Well in York during COVID

Some updated information on this web site. Click graphic to access

Surplus food distribution in Foxwood

Volunteers are continuing to hand out surplus food to Foxwood residents during the half term. The sessions are likely to be very popular so the advice is to get there early

Council agrees £42750 budget to continue free school meals during half term

The Council has agreed to allocate £42,750 of existing emergency funding to be used to support 2850 of York schoolchildren with free school meals during October 2020 half term.

This is for children who normally receive free school meals during term-time.

Coronavirus York updates; 26th October 2020

Deaths and test results

There have been no further deaths announced by the York Hospital Trust today

83 (EIGHTY THREE) additional positive test results announced today. Cumulative total now 3397.

Slight slowing of rate of new cases is being sustained although some neighbourhoods ( e.g. Clifton North) are showing above national average rates for the first time

Coronavirus York updates; 25th October 2020

Deaths and test results

There have been no further deaths at the York Hospital Trust announced today

There were 54 (FIFTY FOUR) positive test results announced today bringing the cumulative total to 3314.

The rate of increase in case numbers continues to be stable. There has not, as yet, been any sustained reduction in the number of new cases being reported each day.

The rate per 100k population figure peaked at 308.15 last Tuesday.

At neighbourhood level, the least affected area is now Huntington. The numbers at Heslington are still high but are slowly declining.

There is a high rate of growth in positive test results the Rawcliffe/Clifton South neighbourhood,

Positive test results by local neighbourhood.

Case numbers in Rawcliffe are increasing

Case numbers at Heslington are slowly reducing

Coronavirus York updates; 24th October 2020

Deaths and test results

ONE further death at the York Hospital Trust announced. Occurred on Thursday. Brings the second wave total to 12 fatalities.

69 (SIXTY NINE) new positive test results announced today. The cumulative total number of cases in the City is now 3260

The rolling 7 day average number of new cases peaked at 92.43 last Sunday.

There is more evidence emerging that the number of new cases arising in the City has stabilised.

While Heslington remains the most affected neighbourhood, the new case incidence trend there is now downwards.

Three neighbourhoods now have fewer average case numbers than the national rate. They are Poppleton/Rufforth/Askhams, Haxby and Huntington.

Case numbers in Rawcliffe/Clifton South are increasing.

Coronavirus York updates; 22nd October 2020

Deaths and test results

There have been no further Coronavirus deaths in the York hospital today.

There were 56 (FIFTY SIX) additional positive test results announced today. This is the smallest number for some days. The total number of COVID infections in the City has now reached 3072

The 7 day moving average, per 100k population, peaked at 307.2 on Sunday before showing a small fall.

We are currently seeing on average around 80 additional cases in the City each day

The neighbourhood profile has changed little over the last week with Heslington having around 3 times more cases than the next worst affected neighbourhood (Tang Hall).

The least affected neighbourhood is now Poppleton/Rufforth/the Askhams which, with 5 cases, is below the national average.

The government has also updated its stats on the number of Pillar 2 tests carried out in the City in the period up to 14th October. As expected, the additional capacity introduced at the Heslington testing site has increased the number of tests undertaken. As the graph below demonstrates, the percentage of positive rule continues to rise but is still below 1 in 5.

Other information not yet available

Employment and business grants improved

The government has announced changes to business and jobs support arrangements today.

Cash grants of up to £2,100 a month will be given to firms in Tier 2 areas – enough for all affected hospitality, accommodation and leisure premises.

They will be retrospective, so any region which has been under enhanced restrictions can backdate their claim to August

For self-employed people, the size of the grant they can access will also be doubled to £3,750 – with the amount of average profits they can claim for rising from 20% to 40%.

And there will be changes to the Job Support Scheme, which is for companies experiencing lower demand due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Employees will only need to work 20% of their normal hours – instead of the original 33% – to be eligible.

And the government will significantly reduce the amount employers have to contribute – from 33% to 5%.

Government grants

The government has announced it is allocating £1 billion of additional support to help local authorities get through the winter. City of York Council is to £941,155 of that money.

Coronavirus York updates; 21st Oct 2020

Deaths and test results

There has been a further COVID related death at the York Hospital Trust. It occurred on Monday

Unfortunately today sees a record high number of new cases announced. There were 142 (ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTY TWO) additional positive test results today.

That means that there have been a total of 3016 cases in the City.

The 2000 case milestone was passed as recently as the 8th October.

The rate per 7 days peaked at 91.86 on Sunday. The trend is still upwards but is not as steep as seen earlier in the month.

The infection rate per 100k population has peaked at 305.30 (Sunday). This is higher than the regional and national averages.

The university area still has the highest rate of York neighbourhoods.

Universities

The University of York said that as of yesterday (Tuesday), it was aware of 304 individuals within the university community who were currently self-isolating because they had had a positive Covid-19 test.

It said the university had about 4,500 members of staff and a student body of around 18,000.

York St John University said, as of yesterday, 57 members of its community were currently self-isolating because they had had a positive Covid-19 test, adding: “Close contacts have been identified and advised to self-isolate.”

York launches local contact tracing system

City of York Council is launching a new local test and trace system to help people who have recently tested positive and aid in the city’s ongoing efforts to stop the spread of the Coronavirus.

Following extensive lobbying efforts, the Council has been working with the national test and trace system to establish the service, which from tomorrow (Thursday 22 October) will see the local public health team contact those the centralised system has been unable to.

People contacted will be advised to isolate, talked through the local support available when isolating, and asked about details of their close contacts so these can then be followed up by the national team.

The service will run Monday to Friday initially, increasing over the coming weeks to a seven day service, with residents being contacted using a local (01904) phone number. Text messages will also be sent to people with mobile phones telling them to expect a call. If this is still unsuccessful, then a home visit will be made, and if no-one is at home, a letter with details of how to contact the team will be delivered to those advised to isolate, following Covid-19 guidelines.

Councillor Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council and Chair of the York Outbreak Management Advisory Board said:
“Together with partners across the city we have been lobbying the Government to provide capacity to establish a localised tracing program to support the national system, which unfortunately continues to fall short of expectations.

“Where contact tracing has been localised in other parts of the country it has been hugely successful in reaching more of those who have contracted coronavirus quickly, helping to slow the spread of the virus. Our trained contact tracers will contact those the national system have been unable to, and this work will be invaluable in helping to keep our city safe and open.

“I want to thank everyone who has engaged with the test and trace system so far and followed advice to self-isolate. We all appreciate how challenging this year has been, and we must work together to support our businesses, schools and key workers, and ensure that our collective effort and the sacrifices made by so many do not go to waste.

“Our public health teams are doing an excellent job, but it’s also the personal responsibility of each and every one of us to keep our city and people safe and the places we love open by ensuring that we follow the public health advice.”

Sharon Stoltz, Director for Public Health at City of York Council said:
“Test and Trace is one of the key methods to support the lowering of transmission rates and keeping York residents safe. Our local contact tracers will work with the national Test and Trace to find those who have tested positive but have not responded to the National Test and Trace calls. The more people we contact, the lower we can bring the rate of transmission. This also helps us gather local intelligence, which enables us to provide a more effective response to the spread of the virus.

“We all have a role to play in keeping the people we love safe and the places we love open. Self-isolating when you have symptoms or are told to by test and trace and Hands Face Space are some of the key things we can all do for each other.

“Support is available for those who are self-isolating by contacting our helpline on 01904 551550 or emailing COVID-19help@york.gov.uk and I want to thank everyone who has, is and will self-isolate when asked to do so, it really does make a difference.”

Coronavirus York updates; 20th October 2020

Deaths and test results

There have been no further hospital deaths in York today. However an additional death in a care home has been registered (7th Oct) bringing the cumulative total there to 81.

There have been an additional 101 (ONE HUNDRED AND ONE) positive test results announced today. That brings the cumulative total to 2874

The rate per 100k population figure peaked at 295.48 on Friday. That is higher than the rates at regional and national level.

It may be worth remembering, though, that the rate in the majority of neighbourhoods is at, or below, the national average. It is the Heslington & Tang Hall areas that push the City into the Tier 2 restriction category

64% of positive test results are being recorded by people aged under 30.

Outbreak Management Board meeting tomorrow

A meeting of the City’s Coronavirus Outbreak management board takes place tomorrow. Its agenda has been published (click)

The meeting will receive a background report which will confirm that case numbers in York are now above both regional and national rates.

*Council report to meeting on 21st October 2020*

The meeting will also hear a report on communications. The presentations makes no mention of the big question – a lack of information on key issues like health capacity & or positivity percentages by neighbourhood.

It does, however, offer a glimpse of responses on some questions posed during the Councils “big conversation” survey.

Likely to be of particular interest, will be the report from the 4 higher/further education establishments in the City.

It says that they have 404 active positive cases across staff and students, resulting in around 3,000 students needing to self isolate in either their University or college accommodation, or in private homes across the City.

The Universities don’t seem to have any further initiatives to offer as they struggle to stem the spread of the virus.

If cases continue to increase, then it is possible that the campus and student accommodation units will be subject to greater quarantine restrictions or that they may have to close altogether for several weeks.

The meeting will also hear of plans for a local contact tracing initiative (click)

Coronavirus York updates; 19th October 2020

Deaths and test results

A further COVID related death was recorded by the York Hospital Trust on Saturday. That takes the total number of fatalities to 10 since the 3rd October.

The numbers are still lower than were recorded during April and May earlier in the year. The table below shows the distribution by neighbourhood during the first wave of infections. This is influenced by the location of hospitals, care homes etc.

There have been a further 87 (EIGHTY SEVEN) new positive test results announced today. This brings the total, since the start of the pandemic, to 2773.
The rate per 100,000 population peaked at 289.64 last week. That figure is higher than the regional or UK average. Although still increasing, the infection rate is now showing signs of stabilising.

The government is now only publishing the neighbourhood infection figures 5 days in arrears. We can now monitor trends.
The principle area of concern remains the University/Heslington/Fulford neighbourhood.

Council say we won’t go into Tier 3 restrictions

Sharon Stoltz, Director of Public Health, said;

“We are aware of media speculation that York could soon move to tier 3.

There are currently no plans to move York into Tier 3 and we have not received anything from central government to suggest that this is likely.

“This weekend saw tier 2 restrictions come in place to slow the spread of Coronavirus. I want to thank residents and businesses for their hard work in adapting to the new restrictions and I would ask that everyone continues to practice ‘Hands. Face. Space’, to stay at home if asked to by test and trace, and to get a test if you have symptoms.

“We will of course continue to share any updates as soon as we have them.”

Coronavirus York updates; 18th October 2020

Deaths and test results

131 (ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE) additional positive test results today bringing the total to 2686.

No additional York hospital deaths today.

Infection rate still increasing but seems to be stabilising at an average of around 80 new cases each day.

Rate per 100,000 population was 281 on Thursday. That is higher than the national rate.

Government has still not restarted publishing results at a neighbourhood level. There has been no explanation of the change in policy. These are the figures for the most recently published 7 day period to 13th October

York is now in the top 25 of affected areas in the country

How the virus grew in York during last 6 weeks

There has been a lot of agonising in the City about how Coronavirus cases – and more recently deaths – have grown so quickly.

Some “blame” visitors, some the concentration of hospitality outlets while others choose to single out “students”.

The authorities can’t, or won’t, reveal the linkages between “contacts” and the source and locations of infections, so the truth is that no one really knows how the infection chain developed so quickly.

It is true to say, though, that the increase in cases had begun before large numbers of students started arriving in the City in mid September.

The following maps (taken from government figures click) demonstrate that the Heslington area was largely free of the coronavirus in early September. It also had a relatively low population.

The arrival of large numbers of students does seem to have triggered a significant rise is cases. The neighbourhood is now one of the worst hit in the region.

When the government last published its neighbourhood figures, the Heslington/University/Fulford area had had 119 cases during the previous week. With over 1000 students and staff now understood to be self isolating, the confirmed case numbers may now have risen again.

Only a post pandemic public inquiry will shed a full light on the nature of the decisions about reopening Universities, which were made during the summer months, and who made them.

It does appear though that the authorities underestimated the threat of virus transmission outside the strict teaching and study environment.

In the meantime, we must hope that Tier 2 restrictions, coupled to voluntary strict quarantining arrangements, will produce a downturn in case numbers across the whole City.

Council report on COVID recovery plan

The Council’s Executive are considering an update on their COVID recovery plan at a meeting on Thursday. It can be read by clicking here

This is the latest list of “can and cannot”

What the restrictions mean

In a bid to stem the rising number of COVID-19 cases in our area the new Government rules, which apply to everyone in York, mean that:

you must not meet socially with friends and family indoors, in any setting, unless you live with them or have formed a support bubble with them – this includes private homes, and any other indoor venues such as pubs and restaurants
you may continue to see friends and family you do not live with outside, including in a garden or other outdoor space – when you do so you must not meet in a group of more than 6 people
visiting indoor hospitality/leisure/retail settings is restricted to 1 household – 2 households must not meet in these settings, unless they are in a support bubble
you should only visit care homes in exceptional circumstances, see more information on visiting family and friends in care homes
you should only travel for essential reasons, you can continue to travel for work or to access education but should try to reduce the number of journeys you make where possible
you can go on holiday outside of the area, but you should only do this with people you live with, or have formed a support bubble with, and dependant on any local restrictions in the area you’re visiting
you can play a team sport only when formally organised by a sports club or similar organisation, and sports-governing body guidance has been issued
wedding receptions and celebrations for up to 15 people are permitted in the form of a sit-down meal and in COVID secure settings, not in private dwellings
up to 30 people can attend a funeral (York Crematorium capacity is 18), and 15 people can attend a wake in a COVID secure setting, not in private dwellings
businesses and venues can continue to operate, in a COVID secure manner, other than businesses which remain closed by law
certain businesses selling food or drink on their premises are required to close between 10.00pm and 5.00am
serving food and drink will be restricted to table service only
businesses and venues selling food for consumption off their premises, can continue to do so after 10.00pm as long as this is through a delivery service, click-and-collect, or drive-thru
leisure and entertainment venues are required to close between 10.00pm to 5.00am
you should only use public transport for essential purposes, such as travelling to school or work
you should work from home wherever possible
exercise classes will only be permitted indoors if it is possible for people to avoid mixing with people they do not live with (or share a support bubble with

Be aware that:

schools, universities and places of worship remain open
you can meet people outside in parks or open spaces, following ‘the rule of 6’ and remembering ‘hands. face, space’
exercise classes and organised sport can continue to take place outdoors

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