Health Secretary praises borough for following the rules

The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has congratulated people in Scarborough and Whitby after only one case of coronavirus was reported in the last three weeks.

And he said he was “sure that the people of Scarborough will be able to enjoy summer safely.”

Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, he was responding to Scarborough and Whitby MP Robert Goodwill who said that there had been just one confirmed case in the borough since June 23.

“Will the Secretary of State join me in paying tribute to the people of Scarborough and Whitby not only for so assiduously following the Government guidelines, but for applying liberal quantities of Yorkshire common sense?,” asked Mr Goodwill.

Mr Hancock replied: “Absolutely. They are doing a great job in following the social distancing rules and making sure that they take appropriate precautions, and as a result, the disease has been suppressed in Scarborough.

“I am sure that the people of Scarborough will be able to enjoy summer safely.”

Government figures show that there have been 561 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Scarborough so far. York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust say there have been no more deaths of people with coronavirus, meaning no-one has died with the virus for three weeks now.

Since the pandemic began, 80 people have died at Scarborough Hospital and 134 at York Hospital with coronavirus. The Trust has so far discharged 549 patients who had tested positive for the virus to continue their recovery at home.

Office for National Statistics figures, released on Tuesday, show no-one in the borough died with coronavirus in hospices, care homes or elsewhere in the week ending July 3.