How the town has higher rate of virus than rest of county

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus, or Covid-19, in the local authority of Scarborough is 305, according to the latest figures at the time of publication.

This gives Scarborough a rate of 280.5 cases per 100,000 people.

The rate is calculated by taking the count for each area, dividing by the total population and then multiplying it by 100,000.

Scarborough’s rate is higher than that for North Yorkshire (208.1 per 100,000), Yorkshire and the Humber (254.7 per 100,000) and England (268.5 per 100,000).

There have been 201 reported deaths across York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust at the time of writing, of which 79 took place in Scarborough Hospital and 122 York.

The latest mortality figures released on Tuesday (May 26) by the Office for National Statistics showed that up to May 15, 27 Covid-19 related deaths have occurred outside hospital in the local authority of Scarborough – 22 in care homes, three at home and two in a hospice.

This means the death toll increased by eight in the latest weekly period, a smaller increase than the 10 seen in the previous week’s ONS release.

The ONS data is based on where Covid-19 is mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, including if it is suspected, or in combination with other health conditions.

These latest figures show deaths in care homes were 31% of total coronavirusrelated deaths in Scarborough up to May 15.

For the week ending 24 May 2020, 444 patients, who had been diagnosed with Covid-19,have been discharged from the Trust’s hospitals to continue their recovery.

Last Friday staff at Scarborough Hospital held a minute’s silence for Dr Abdel Wahab Babiker, 70, a consultant physician who died after testing positive for coronavirus.