Covid: Harrogate infection rate rises slightly for first time in three weeks

The borough’s weekly rate now stands at 278 cases per 100,000 people – slightly up from 253 at the end of July.

It marks the first significant increase in three weeks but the rate remains below when it reached a new record height of 534 on 18 July. At the time, the borough was recording over 100 new cases per day. This figure currently stands at 64.

The latest rate is also just below the England average of 291 but above the North Yorkshire average of 262.

Elsewhere in North Yorkshire, Selby has the highest weekly rate with 308, while Ryedale has the lowest in the county at just 193.

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Unlike previous waves, high case rates have not translated into large numbers of infected people being admitted to hospital, with eight patients in Harrogate hospital as of last Wednesday.

This figure has remained low and stable thanks to high levels of vaccine take-up – and there has not been a Covid-related death reported by the hospital in almost four months.

Meanwhile, a total of 123,347 people in the Harrogate district have now received their first vaccine dose and 107,669 people their second.

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter