North Yorkshire Covid: Hospital admissions remain low as infection rate rises across county

Amanda Bloor accountable officer for the North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group said that the number of patients in the county’s hospitals was not mirroring the spike in infection rates.

She told a meeting of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum that 22 patients with Covid-19 were in hospital currently, compared to 23 last week.

The number includes two patients in Harrogate Hospital and six in York.

The infection rate in North Yorkshire, meanwhile, continues to rise, with almost 900 cases recorded in the last week. The rate per 100,000 people now stands at 144, up from 45 two weeks ago.

Mrs Bloor told the briefing that at this time the cases do not appear to be leading to more hospitalisations.

She said: “The data that I am seeing suggests that we are not seeing the same rates of hospitalisation per community infection rates as we were seeing in previous waves.

“I think this is most likely due to the vaccination program and the fact that having two doses of a vaccine protects people from serious illness.

“We do know though that some people in our communities are still becoming seriously ill and the virus is still very much with us so it is still really important that everyone exercises good judgement and follows the guidance.”

Mrs Bloor said that anyone who had not yet come forward to get a dose of a vaccine should do so as soon as possible.