Coronavirus York updates; 25th June 2020

Museum Gardens reopening

The Museum Gardens are due to reopen today (Thursday) at 10:30am. They will close at 6:00pm.

Deaths and test results

The were no additional deaths reported at local hospitals yesterday. There was also no increase in the number of positive test results (23/6/20).

£144 per person York cost

According to the BBC, the York Councils income shortfall in the wake of the health crisis is equivalent to £144 for each person in the City.  The Council has already said it faces making cuts of £24 million in services.

The worst hit Council – the Highlands in  Scotland – has a £411 shortfall per person, largely as a result of declining visitor numbers. The Leeds Council has a £61 million shortfall and says that it may not be able to balance its budget this year.

Physician, heal thyself?

Reports coming out of West Offices, say some Councillors are to be offered counselling  to help them cope with the pressures of lockdown and the COVID crisis.

Welcome to Yorkshire

According to some reports, the Yorkshire tourist organisation could fold shortly. It depends for part of its income on a complex rates pooling arrangement which involves local authorities with a business rates surplus cross funding those with a deficit. The fall in business rates income as a result of the COVID crisis means that there will be no surplus to share, leaving WTY appealing for a direct subsidy from cash strapped local Councils.

Coronavirus York updates; 23rd June 2020

Deaths and Test results

York has a positive lab test result on 21st June. This was the first since 2nd June. There were none yesterday. The cumulative total of positive results in the City is 463

There were no additional Coronavirus related deaths at the York hospital

Further easing of lockdown restrictions

A whole raft of changes to social distancing and other health restrictions have been announced today. The new social distance will be “1 metre+”

Facilities allowed to open from 4th July will be

  • Pubs, bars and restaurants but only with a table service indoors, and owners will be asked to keep contact details of customers to help with contact tracing
  • Hotels, holiday apartments, campsites and caravan parks but shared facilities must be cleaned properly
  • Theatres and music halls but they will not be allowed to hold live performances
  • In other changes weddings will be allowed to have 30 attendees, and places of worship will be allowed to hold services but singing will be banned (!)
  • Hair salons and barbers will be able to reopen but must put protective measures, such as visors, in place
  • Libraries, community centres and bingo halls
  • Cinemas, museums and galleries
  • Funfairs, theme parks, adventure parks, amusement arcades, skating rinks and model villages
  • Indoor attractions where animals are exhibited, such as at zoos, aquariums, farms, safari parks and wildlife centres

The following places will remain closed

  • Nightclubs and casinos
  • Bowling alleys and indoor skating rinks
  • Indoor play areas including soft-play
  • Spas
  • Nail bars and beauty salons
  • Massage, tattoo and piercing parlours
  • Indoor fitness and dance studios, and indoor gyms and sports venues/facilities
  • Swimming pools and water parks
  • Exhibition or conference centres – other than for those who work for that venue.

Coronavirus York updates; 22nd June 2020

Deaths and test results

It is now 19 days since anyone tested positive for Coronavirus in York. The total of positive tests remains at 462

There have been no further Coronavirus deaths at York hospital

Groves Road closures

The proposal to close through routes in The Groves area was approved today by the Green Party’s transport executive. It remains to be seen whether the decision will be “called in” for review.

Initially we expect that the closures – anticipated to be implemented within 3 weeks – will have little effect other than perhaps inconveniencing some residents who live within the affected zone (They face a longish detour for some journeys).

Some cyclists may also feel less safe when using the narrow streets with two way working also being reintroduced.

However if traffic volumes return to more normal levels in the autumn, there remains concerns about the impacts on congestion and pollution levels in the surrounding area.

Coronvirus York update; 16th June 2020

Deaths and test results

There have been no further Coronavirus deaths recorded at York hospitals

There have been no further positive lab test results in the City. The total figure of 462 has been unchanged now for two weeks.

ONS have now published their updated statistics on causes of death across the country. It can be downloaded by clicking here.  It is subject to further refinement.

The tables cover the period up to 5th June. They reveal a cumulative total of 156 deaths attributed to the virus. There were a total of 1154 deaths in the City during the same period (all causes).

Of the Coronavirus deaths, most occurred in hospital (84) while 62 occurred in care homes. Others took place at home or in a hospice. The highest recorded number of deaths in York care homes in one week was twenty although this had fallen to one during the last recorded week.

Coronavirus York updates; 19th May 2020

Poppleton CV testing results are still secret

The York Council’s Director of Public Health has said tonight that neither the Local Authority or the local NHS are being told what the results of the CV tests taking place at Poppleton have been. They do not know how many tests have proved to be positive. She blames the government for not sharing the information which is being gathered under contract by Deloitte

Deaths

3 more patients with coronavirus have died at York Hospital. The fatalities takes the total number of Covid-19 related deaths reported at the hospital to 116 so far. Another 77 such patients are reported to have died at Scarborough Hospital, taking the overall total of deaths at the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to 193.

Coronavirus York updates; 8th May 2020

Still no coronasvirus test results from Poppleton

The authorities still haven’t revealed how many of the tests carried out at their Poppleton centre have proved to be positive.

The national figures are being revealed each day. Yesterday 97,029 people were tested of whom 4649 (5%) had positive results.

Earlier in the week (5th May) North Yorkshire officials said that 4580 tests had been completed at Poppleton. They declined to reveal how many had proved to be positive.

If local results are in line with the national picture, then around 200 local people may have the virus.

Deaths

There have now been 95 deaths at York Hospital from coronavirus and 62 at Scarborough, making a total of 157 at York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust centres.