Moving York into Tier 2 will will not be enough to stem rising infections, MP warns

Moving York up in the tiered coronavirus restriction system will not stop rates rising, one of the city’s MP’s has claimed.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced today that York would move to Tier 2 restrictions, banning a mixing of households inside.

But Labour’s Rachael Maskell, who represents York Central, said the city had higher infection rates than some areas in the highest restrictions of Tier 3.

Ms Maskell said: “I welcome the Secretary of State’s greater attention on York announced today, but I am concerned that while we’re in Tier 1, there are areas of the country in Tier 3 with a lower infection rate.

“And certainly I do not believe the measures in Tier 2 are going to be sufficient to stop the spread of the virus in our city which, as he will know, is rising incredibly sharply and in the older population as well.

“York experiences real challenges every single winter because of the capacity issues at our hospital, and without taking more acute action now, I am concerned we’re going to be in serious difficulty in just a few weeks’ time.”

But Mr Hancock told the Commons there were “overlapping epidemics” in York – among students and the general population – and said there had been a 60 per cent increase in cases in the city in the last week.

He said: “We are expanding capacity at the hospital in York and of course in York there are two overlapping epidemics – one amongst students and one amongst the general population.

“As she says though, this is increasing in spread in the older population who are, of course, the most at risk from Covid. The number of cases increased by 60 per cent in York over the last week.

“So I welcome her support for the measures we are taking and of course I am very happy to continue to talk to her about what more may be needed, because this is best done on a cross-party, cross-community basis.”

York, which Mr Hancock described as “a city I know and love”, was the first place in the UK to record coronavirus cases at the end of January.

In the seven days to October 10, it recorded 266.8 new cases per 100,000 people, a jump from 175.7 the week before.

Speaking after the announcement Julian Sturdy, Tory MP for York Outer, said: “I very much share the Government’s concern about the rising case numbers in York and it is vital that appropriate steps are taken to prevent a spike in hospital admissions and the resultant strain on local health services. The restrictions announced today will come into effect at midnight on Friday and it is important that all York residents and business are familiar with and follow the new rules.

I was however disappointed not to get a satisfactory explanation of the Government’s reasoning and would like to have seen the detailed breakdown of the data that has led to this decision.

“From the information that I have available it seems clear that the rise in cases is being driven by York’s two universities, with the Fulford and Heslington ward alone accounting for one in five positive tests. It remains unclear however what the transmission rate is in the wider community. I would need to see clear evidence that this is worsening before I could endorse tightening restrictions, with serious implications for our hospitality industry city-wide.

“This decision should not be taken simply based on the raw numbers, whist running the risk that these are heavily skewed by infection rates in the universities.

“I am also seeking clarity from the Government on how this is going to be kept under review and what criteria will need to be met before moving back to the ‘medium’ alert level. I have yet to receive detailed information on this point and greater clarity is needed if we are to avoid the sort of limbo that many other northern cities have been placed in over the last few months.”