Infection rate falls, and hospital has just 2 Covid patients

There are now just two Covid-19 patients remaining at Scarborough Hospital, it has been confirmed.

At the start of the year as the third lockdown began, the number was above 40 but it has been reducing ever since.

The figures were confirmed at a meeting of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum yesterday.

The borough’s seven-day coronavirus infection rate per 100,000 people has also stabilised and is now at 21, as of yesterday.

Two weeks ago Scarborough had the eighth highest rate in England when it crept above 50. Residents were told that infection rates were likely to fluctuate as the cases numbers dropped.

Richard Webb, North Yorkshire County Council’s director of Health and Adult Services, told the meeting: “As you will see from the figures there is quite a lot of fluctuation, they are changing quite a bit from day to day, partly because the numbers are much smaller so any increase in cases begins to almost have a disproportionate impact.”

There were a further three fixed penalty notices issued in Scarborough this week for illegal indoor gatherings.

North Yorkshire Police issued just seven fines over the seven days, with the other four all coming in Ripon.

Chief Inspector Charlotte Bloxham, North Yorkshire Police’s operational lead for the Coronavirus pandemic, added: “In line with the gradual easing of the lockdown, our focus is very much on reacting to high-risk activities such as indoor gatherings.

“It is in such settings that the coronavirus is most likely to spread, which is why it is so important to keep following the health protection regulations and the guidance. It is also important to get as much fresh air as possible, both from being outdoors and letting it into your home by opening windows. But please make sure your home is always secure from opportunistic thieves.”