No more hospital deaths or positive test results in the City again today
The Plan
The Council has now published a plan which lays out how it will deal with further stages of the pandemic. It will be discussed at a meeting taking place on Thursday and can be read by clicking here
The report provides a useful compendium of information on processes and procedures.
The Council expects to spend £3/4 million on its Coronavirus response in the period up to April 2021.
The Councils main failure during the epidemic has been poor communications. It still fails to recognise the need for regular figures to be published on the success of the “track and trace” process, on which hopes of avoiding a “second wave” now largely rest.
Regular updates should also be provided on the number of infectious cases there currently are in the City, and how many hospital beds are occupied by COVID-19 cases
“Big Conversation”
The Council has been selectively leaking – highly selective – results from its survey of public opinion (styled as a “big conversation”)
It failed to gain public support for some of its transport initiatives pointedly omitting any questions about the controversial decisions from the questionnaire.
There has been no table published tabulating the results. A Council report offers the following summary.
“So far there have been over 500 responses.
The key issues arising from the Covid-19 related health questions are summarised below:
a. 98% confident they know the symptoms (82% extremely or very confident)
b. 98% confident they know what to do if they have symptoms (86% very or extremely confident)
c. 95% confident of social distancing guidance (81% very or extremely)
d. There is less confidence in who and how many to socialise with, rules around returning to work and journeys you should make. We will look at what we can do to address these.
e. There is low confidence others will stick to rules
f. More people understand our advice than the governments
g. Slight challenge re shops and public transport which we can look to address.
h. Lower confidence re how safe York will be when visitors from UK or abroad come. Will need addressing.
i. 95% feel informed of what they can do to stop the spread of the virus (75% extremely or very)”.
There have been no further positive test results or hospital deaths in the City according to government figures published today.
Sometimes “late” test results are retrospectively added to the daily totals but the trend may be encouraging.
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Restrictions to be eased further
From 25th July indoor gyms, pools and other sports facilities can reopen
On 1st August the government will update its advice on going to work, asking employers to make decisions about how and where their staff can work safely
From the same date, most remaining leisure settings, including bowling, skating rinks, casinos and all close contact services, such as beauticians, will be allowed to reopen
Live indoor theatre and concerts will be able to resume with socially distanced audiences
Wedding receptions for up to 30 people will also be allowed from next month
From September, schools, nurseries and colleges will be open for all children and young people on a full-time basis, while universities are also working to reopen as fully as possible
From October, the government intends to allow audiences to return to stadiums, while conferences and other business events can recommence, subject to the outcome of pilots
Shop local
City of York Council is encouraging people to shop local and stay safe this weekend.
Whilst face coverings are mandatory in shops from 24 July, city leaders are coming together to urge residents and businesses to consider the use of face coverings within the safety guidelines.
There is growing evidence that face coverings can stop the spread of Coronavirus. Face coverings, alongside regular hand washing, social distancing and staying home and getting tested, if you have symptoms, remain the best defence we have against the virus.
If you have a medical condition that means you are unable to wear a face covering, you do not need a letter from your healthcare professional to prove this. In this situation, you will still be able to enter shops and you will not be fined for not wearing one.
Councillor Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council said: “Our local business community have worked hard to reopen safely, and to support them, the council has been issuing guidance packs to businesses and licensing premises to support them through this difficult period”.
“If every resident spent £5 with a local business, we would add £1m into York’s economy, and that is why we are encouraging residents to shop local and stay safe this weekend.
“Supporting York’s local businesses and independents puts your money straight back into our local economy and helps support the businesses who make York such a unique city. So, let’s continue to shop local and stay safe.”
Andrew Lowson, Executive Director at York BID, said: “We have seen other countries successfully introduce the use of face coverings without it impacting on people’s ability to enjoy shopping and socialising within the safety guidelines. We hope residents will continue to support their local businesses as they continue on the road to recovery.”
Marc Bichtemann, Managing Director of First York, said: “We have been increasing our services over recent weeks to help more people to travel as retail and leisure opens in York, including more frequency on the park and ride network, so we are able to carry customers safely to their favourite shopping destinations.
“Wearing a face covering on the bus is already the law unless someone is exempt and we encourage everyone, especially customers who may be using the bus first the first time, to bring one with them and help fellow passengers and our drivers to keep safe.”
How the Council plans to use extra government transport grant
A secret meeting held today has endorsed a list of transport improvements on which the Council hopes to spend government grant money (Emergency Active Travel grant).
The list does not include any schemes in suburban or village areas, although there have been numerous requests for the Council to improve the maintenance of cycle tracks and to provide additional cycle parking stands on shopping streets. There is very little on the list for pedestrians.
Unfortunately the Council seems prepared to continue the dangerous (for cyclists) carriageway closure on Bishopthorpe Road and will add other contraflow cycle lanes on Coppergate and in The Groves area (Penley’s Grove Street).
Traffic counters are also on the Councils shopping list although traffic measurement tools like these have been deployed in the City for over 2 decades.
Ironically cycle improvements are promised on Tadcaster Road. Since the recent resurfacing this is probably the best road for cycling on in the whole of the City (although the off street path near Tesco does need levelling).
Once again there was no prior notice given of the meeting so residents had no opportunity to make representations before the decision was published. It really is about time for the Council to reintroduce at least a semblance of transparency and democracy back into its governance arrangements.
Deaths and positive test results
An additional positive test result was recorded in York on Monday. This brings the cumulative total to 911
There have been no further COVID 19 related deaths at York Trust Hospitals
Disabled parking changes
The York Council is to relax its City centre ban on blue badge parking.
In another “behind closed doors” decision, approval has been given to create “a parking bay on Duncombe Place (at the north west end of the street) allowing parking for Blue Badge holders for up to 3 hours and loading for up to 30mins seven days/week”.
The Council is also to investigate and implement additional disabled bays in other on-street areas “where feasible”
The Council has pointedly not revealed how much use has been made of the additional 40 disabled spaces which it laid out at the Monk Bar car park. It appears that the vast majority have remained empty.
The Council has been paying a taxi company to provide a lift service from the car park to Kings Square. It turns out that the cost to taxpayers has been £238 a day although the service has been little used. Now the hours of operation of the service are being extended to 8:00pm increasing the daily cost to £358 a day.
That is more than the Council used to spend on transport tokens which were made available to disabled people. The tokens could be used to purchase a door to door taxi service.
There is still no news of any help from the Council for suburban shopping areas like Front Street. It had been suggested that the relaxation of parking restriction there for blue badge holders could have provided both a boost for local traders plus a more convenient option for those with disabilities.
Bollards
The Council has also revealed that lift out bollards and sockets are to be provided at three locations: Goodramgate (junction with Deangate), Blake Street and Fossgate (junction with Merchantage), at a cost of up to £5,000.
Hostile bollards?
The Council says that these will support the enforcement of access restrictions but not provide “hostile vehicle mitigation”.
Staffing costs for manning the access points are put at £4,800 for the first week when all three closures are staffed (approx. £690/day). “They will then reduce to approx. £1,900/week (approx. £280/day)”.
On street drinking
The Council has approved the implementation of an “interim pavement café licensing process to enable the hospitality industry to apply for temporary pavement café licences in advance of the Business and Planning Bill being enacted. These temporary licences will be valid for a maximum period of three months after which they will be reviewed and extended for up to a year in line with the requirements set out in the new legislation (not beyond the end of September 2021)”
While allowing outside tables to be provided where space allows seems a sensible step during the current health crisis, the lack of any comment on the implications on alcohol fuelled disorder have not been acknowledged by the Council. It is unclear where, and when, the details of any applications will be published
No tip bookings from Monday
The appointment system, which is currently operating at York’s household waste sites like Hazel Court, will be discontinued with effect from Monday
NB. A response to a Freedom of Information request has revealed that the number of appointment requests at Hazel Court have been averaging around 275 a day. At Towthorpe the daily rate has been 214 recently.
The government has issued revised statistics for the daily number of positive test results recorded in the City. The revised figures show that there were 3 confirmed cases last Wednesday. Another has been added to the Friday total. This brings the cumulative total of confirmed cases in the City to 908
Council publishes information including track and trace data
The York Council has publishedbackground papers for a meeting taking place tomorrow (Monday) which give the first local indications of the success of the “”track and trace” programme.
The papers say that 54 CYC residents with a positive test have been engaged since the end of May and 60 ‘contacts’ have been identified and traced.
Residents will hope that weekly updates will now be published as a minimum.
We know the number of positive test results.
We now need to understand how many contacts have been identified for each case and how many were successfully spoken to.
Vandalism
One of the sanitiser stations in York City centre has been vandalised. Stupidity on so many levels
So no further positive test results or York Hospital Trust deaths yesterday (10/7/20).
The York Council has so far not provided any reports on the effectiveness of the COVID 19 test result process. By now we would have expected to see at least the number of contacts identified per positive test result and the number who have been spoken to.
Outdoor theatres and swimming pools will be able to open, along with recreational sports.
Dance studios and sports like badminton and volleyball together with indoor pools, gyms, nail bars and sports facilities will reopen 25th July
There will be restrictions on numbers in gyms and pools and people will be encouraged to shower and change at home where possible, though changing rooms will be open.
Club cricket can also resume from this Saturday, 11 July, with “a limited number of spectators” allowed and clubhouse bars will be able to open, subject to social distancing rules.
There is no word yet on when other spectator sports will be able to admit spectators and under what conditions.
Deaths and test results
There has been another positive coronavirus test result in York. This brings the total to 903.
There have been no further deaths in the York Hospital Trust area.
Good news today with no more hospital deaths and no new positive COVID 19 test results. The number of hospital deaths remains at 214 (7/7/20). It has remained at this figure for over 3 weeks.
The cumulative number of positive tests results remains at 902 (7/7/20). The last positive result was announced on Saturday.
National announcements on housing and hospitality
a £1,000 bonus for each worker that companies bring back from furlough and employ through to January next year;
a “kickstart scheme” to directly pay firms to create jobs for 16 to 24-year-olds;
cash for businesses to take on trainees and apprentices;
an eight-month temporary cut in stamp duty, with no charge on property transactions below £500,000;
larger grants for improved energy efficiency in homes.
a cut in VAT on food, accommodation and attractions from 20% to 5% until 12 January;
an “Eat Out to Help Out” discount of up to £10 per head to get Britons back to restaurants, cafes and pubs
