Harrogate’s permanent coronavirus testing centre off Dragon Road will close this weekend and be replaced by a mobile unit in West Park car park.
In a sign that the emergency response to the pandemic is being scaled back, the permanent site in the Dragon Road car park near Asda will close on Sunday
The mobile units at the West Park car park will open several days a week although precise details are not yet known.
Speaking at a briefing on Wednesday, Matthew Robinson, head of resilience and emergencies at North Yorkshire County Council, said the move to mobile units was being done so tests could target hotspot areas.
He said:
“The advantages of mobile testing sites is that we can flex and strengthen as we go. We will make sure that if covid cases are increasing in a particular area we will continue to provide more frequent testing in that location.”
It was announced in March that the Dragon Road site would close due to the car park being needed by Harrogate Convention Centre, but health officials have now decided a permanent replacement site will not be needed.
The site on Dragon Road.
Officials are instead urging residents to use the mobile sites, online ordering and local pharmacies where testing has become more widely available.
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The closure of the site follows an announcement that the vaccination centres at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate and Ripon racecourse will also close in August – with local pharmacy sites set to play a larger part in the rollout.
Dr Ian Dilley, GP partner at East Parade Surgery in Harrogate and clinical director of the Mowbray Square Primary Care Network, said in a statement on Tuesday:
“With the huge number of people now vaccinated in the local area, we feel August is an appropriate end date.
“We need to be mindful of the other pressures that will be placed on doctors’ surgeries as we head towards autumn and winter, and the annual flu vaccine campaigns that GP practices need to provide.
“We also need to enable our kind hosts at the Yorkshire Events Centre and Ripon racecourse to provide their own events as restrictions continue to be eased and more public events are permitted.”
There are two types of coronavirus tests: rapid tests, known as lateral flow tests, and PCR tests, which are sent to labs for analysis.
Mr Robinson said anyone with symptoms should get a PCR test – and not a lateral flow test – because they are more accurate and can also better detect variants of concern.
He said:
“Now that lateral flows are more readily available it is easy to think you can just do one, especially if you have got them laying around your house, but the national testing policy is very clear and it is a PCR test that is needed for anyone with symptoms.
“The PCRs miss fewer positive cases and they can help us identify strains of variants as well which is really important at the moment.”
For more information on testing go to www.northyorks.gov.uk/book-coronavirus-covid-19-test-if-youve-got-symptoms
Police: ‘Avoid contact’ after Indian variant found in North YorkshireNorth Yorkshire Police has urged people to be wary of touching each other after it was revealed a “small number” of cases of the Indian variant of covid had been found in the county.
Louise Walker, North Yorkshire’s director of public health, revealed today the variant was present in the county. It is not known if any of the infections ar ein the Harrogate district.
Superintendent Mike Walker, who is leading the force’s response to the pandemic, urged people to avoid unnecessary contact with people not in their household.
Read more:
- Harrogate and Ripon vaccine centres to close in August
- Giant public artwork coming to the Stray remembers NHS covid dead
Superintendent Walker said:
“Even though limited indoor gatherings and indoor hospitality are now allowed under step three of the roadmap, in line with the rule of six or two households restrictions, we strongly urge people to be very careful until more is known about this variant.
“Please avoid any unnecessary social contact with those who are not part of your household or support bubble, and please keep following the ‘hands, face, space and fresh air’ advice from the health experts.
“We have come a heck of a long way since the terrible peaks of this pandemic, which forced the country into three lockdowns.
“We need to tread very cautiously as we move forward and be prepared for whatever may occur over the coming weeks.”
The force revealed today it hadn’t issued any fixed penalty notices for breaches of covid rules during the last week.
Superintendent Walker added that officers would only take action “against blatant breaches of the health protection regulation”.
Another five covid cases in Harrogate districtFive further covid cases have been reported in the Harrogate district, according to Public Health England figures.
It takes the total number of cases since last March to 7,729.
Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 18 per 100,000 people.
The North Yorkshire average is 20 and the England rate is currently 23.
Read more:
- ‘Let’s crack on’: Knaresborough and Pateley vaccine sites reopen
- Harrogate district groups can bid for grants up to £3,000
No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.
According to NHS England statistics, the death toll remains at 179.
The last reported death at the hospital was on April 11.
Five further cases of covid in Harrogate districtAnother five covid cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district.
According to Public Health England figures, it takes the total number of cases since last March to 7,724.
It comes as a case of the Indian variant of covid was recorded in York, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The district’s seven-day covid rate has increased to 18 per 100,000 people.
Elsewhere, the North Yorkshire average is 23 and the England rate is 24.
Read more:
- Giant public artwork coming to the Stray remembers NHS covid dead
- Communities thanked for covid response with commemorative plaques
Meanwhile, 99,494 people have had a first dose of a covid vaccine in the Harrogate district – an increase of 591 on last week
According to NHS England statistics, 50,031 people have had a second dose.
It means that 149,525 doses have been given in total in the district.
No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been recorded at Harrogate District Hospital.
The last covid death reported at the hospital was on April 11. The death toll remains at 179 since the start of the pandemic.
Giant public artwork coming to the Stray remembers NHS covid deadA huge art installation that commemorates NHS staff and care workers who died from covid will come to West Park Stray in Harrogate this month.
In Memoriam measures 36 metres in diameter and features more than 100 flags made from hospital bed sheets arranged in the form of a medical symbol.
It’s been designed by award-winning artist Luke Jerram and will be on the Stray from May 28 until June 7 before being transported to Edinburgh, Fleetwood and Weston-super-Mare.
Work installing it on the Stray will begin on May 24.
In Memoriam will be the first in a series of installations and events delivered in the months ahead by Harrogate International Festivals, which this year celebrates its 55th anniversary.
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- Another seven covid cases in Harrogate district
- Communities thanked for covid response with commemorative plaques
Sharon Canavar, Harrogate International Festivals chief executive, said
“Two years ago, we were lucky enough to bring Luke’s Museum of the Moon to St Wilfrid’s Church, which was one of the highlights of that summer’s international festival, and was visited by more than 10,000 people.
“As an arts charity delivering festivals and events, we were first to close and will be the last to open, but we can’t just open the doors on our venues and go straight back to normal.
“We wanted to create something unique in Harrogate that acknowledged the last year whilst allowing us to create a safe, outdoor event for the town.
“We don’t want people to just look at In Memoriam from afar, we want people to experience it; we want individuals, families and friends to walk into the heart of it; we want them to sit under the flags and quietly reflect the events of the last 15 months.”
In Memoriam is being supported by Hornbeam Park, Harrogate BID, and Swainsons Funeral Directors.
Another seven covid cases in Harrogate districtA further seven covid cases have been reported in the Harrogate district, according to today’s Public Health England figures.
The district’s seven-day average covid rate stands at 15 infections per 100,000 people.
The North Yorkshire average is 22 and the England rate is 23.
No further covid deaths have been recorded at Harrogate District Hospital, according to NHS England statistics.
The last death from a patient who tested positive for covid was reported at the hospital on April 11.
Read more:
- Harrogate district first covid vaccine doses near 100,000
- GP praises vaccine progress but warns against relaxing too soon
- No covid deaths at Harrogate hospital for a month
The death toll at the hospital remains at 179 since the start of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, North Yorkshire health officials have warned the county will have to stay on high alert over covid for at least another year as the virus “won’t just evaporate suddenly” this summer.
Speaking at a briefing today, Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at the county council, said while there was a “growing sense of optimism” in the lifting of lockdown restrictions, the threat of new variants and need for booster vaccines meant the pandemic was far from over.
He told North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum:
“Pandemics don’t just go away – the thinking globally is they tend to take two to three years to work their way through..
“We are already talking about boosters… and we will continue to have isolated outbreaks in workplaces or schools. We may also have situations where we have new variants and have to do surge testing.
“There is a growing sense of optimism, however, we will still have to be on a high level of alert for probably the next 12 months.”
Additional reporting by Jacob Webster, of the Local Democracy Reporting Service
Woman died at Harrogate hospital after receiving Oxford-AstraZeneca jabIt has emerged that a woman died at Harrogate District Hospital after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca covid vaccine.
Deaths from the vaccine are exceptionally rare but the Financial Times revealed a 59-year-old woman called Julia began having headaches in mid-March, nine days after receiving her first jab.
She initially thought she was suffering migraines but on March 29 her husband, a retired doctor called Peter, came home to find her in a coma.
According to the FT, doctors at the Harrogate hospital said she had a “catastrophic brain injury” resulting from cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and a very low platelet count — the rare blood condition linked to the AstraZeneca jab. Two days later she died.
According to the government, just over 10 people develop adverse drug reactions for every million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine given.
Read more:
- Harrogate district first covid vaccine doses near 100,000
- GP praises vaccine progress but warns against relaxing too soon
A UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency spokesperson said:
“We are saddened to hear about this death and our thoughts are with the family.
“As with any serious suspected adverse drug reaction, reports with a fatal outcome are fully evaluated by the MHRA, including an assessment of post-mortem details if available.
“Vaccines are the best way to protect people from covid and have already saved thousands of lives. Everyone should continue to get their vaccination when asked to do so unless specifically advised otherwise.
“Our detailed and rigorous review into reports of blood clots occurring together with thrombocytopenia is ongoing.”
A Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust spokesman declined to comment.
Three covid vaccines have been authorised for supply in the UK by the MHRA.
Besides Oxford-AstraZeneca, the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been approved for use following reviews of safety, quality and efficacy information from clinical trials.
Further information on vaccines is available here.
Six more covid cases in Harrogate districtSix more cases of covid have been recorded in the Harrogate district, according to the latest Public Health England data.
No more covid-related deaths at Harrogate District Hospital have been recorded, which means it is almost a month since the last one.
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- No covid marshals in Harrogate district
The seven-day average rate of infection in the district is 12 per 100,000 people. A week ago it was 16.
The rate in Harrogate is below both the North Yorkshire and England averages, which stand at 20 and 22 respectively.
The highest rate in North Yorkshire is in Selby district, at 64.
The district’s total number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic now stands at 7,709.
Just two positive covid cases in Harrogate districtJust two positive covid cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district today, according to latest Public Health England figures.
It takes the total number of infections since last March to 7,699.
Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 13.7 per 100,000 people. This is a reduction from yesterday’s figure when it was 16.
The North Yorkshire average is 21.5 and the England rate is currently 21.3.
Read more:
- Harrogate district first covid vaccine doses near 100,000
- Harrogate businesses frustrated over delayed covid restart grants
No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.
The last death at the hospital was recorded on April 11, according to NHS England statistics.
It means the death toll at the hospital since the start of the pandemic remains at 179.
Four more covid cases in Harrogate districtFour covid cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to latest Public Health England figures.
It takes the total number of infections since last March to 7,697.
Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 16 per 100,000 people.
The North Yorkshire average is 22 and the England rate is currently 21.
Read more:
- Harrogate district first covid vaccine doses near 100,000
- Harrogate businesses frustrated over delayed covid restart grants
No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.
The last death at the hospital was recorded on April 11, according to NHS England statistics.
It means the death toll at the hospital since the start of the pandemic remains at 179.