Covid patient numbers at Harrogate hospital fall slightly after jump in July

The number of Covid patients at Harrogate hospital has fallen slightly after a jump in the figures last week.
Covid patient numbers at Harrogate hospital have fallen slightly to eight - much lower than the previous wave when the figure reached 67.Covid patient numbers at Harrogate hospital have fallen slightly to eight - much lower than the previous wave when the figure reached 67.
Covid patient numbers at Harrogate hospital have fallen slightly to eight - much lower than the previous wave when the figure reached 67.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer of NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, told a meeting of the county's Local Resilience Forum last Wednesday that the figures had increased from three to nine - and this has now fallen to eight.

Ms Bloor provided a written update today which showed a similar picture across North Yorkshire with patient numbers across all hospitals falling slightly from 136 to 131 over the same period.

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A breakdown of the figures shows there are now seven patients in Scarborough, eight in Harrogate, 27 in York and 89 in South Tees.

It comes as health officials are making a push for more young people to get vaccinated, with only 24% of 18 to 29-year-olds in North Yorkshire and York having received their second dose.

Ms Bloor said: "Vaccinations are available for all adults through pre-booked and walk-in appointments, and we are encouraging everyone to take up the offer.

"The vaccination remains a personal choice and while we can make accessing the vaccination as easy as possible, we may find that some people opt not to take up the offer."

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Meanwhile, Harrogate's weekly infection rate has continued to fall and now stands at 247 cases per 100,000 people.

This has come down from a record high of 534 last month.

The latest rate is also below the England and North Yorkshire averages of 282 and 259.

Louise Wallace, director of public health for North Yorkshire, said while the drop in the figures was encouraging, rates across the county were still high.

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She said: “Of course the decline in cases is always good news and it is encouraging, but it is probably too soon to say if this is a downward and sustained trend.

“And so, we keep a real close eye on the case rates to see what is happening.

“Just remember that when the figures are above 200 it is still relatively high, which is why I just want to urge everybody still to take care and take things slowly.

“We do need to see whether this is absolutely a continued and sustained trend before we change any of our behaviours.”

A total of 123,120 people across the Harrogate district have now received their first vaccine dose and 105,661 their second.

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter