Yorkshire 'must not be complacent' despite seeing country's lowest coronavirus rates, says Public Health England expert

A senior public health official says people in Yorkshire must not "get complacent" after the region was spared the harshest coronavirus restrictions and saw lower case rates than other parts of the country over Christmas.

Corinne Harvey, Director of Operations for Public Health England in Yorkshire and the Humber, said everyone in the region had a "role to play" to suppress the virus and avoid the harsh Tier 4 restrictions seen in most other parts of England.

Though North Yorkshire and York were moved into Tier 3, meaning pubs and restaurants can operate only as takeaways, the rest of the region stayed in the same tier despite a further 22 million across England facing the toughest lockdown measures and being told to stay at home.

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Though Covid-19 case rates are rising in all regions of England, Yorkshire and the Humber has the lowest at 188.3 per 100,000 people in the seven days to December 27, up from 172.4 a week earlier.

Corinne Harvey said: “Despite remaining in Tier 3 we are continuing to see increased levels of COVID-19 across Yorkshire and the Humber which is extremely concerning, particularly as hospitals are at their most vulnerable this time of the year.

“It is essential, now more than ever, that we don’t get complacent and that we continue to work together to stop the spread of the virus, bring the rate of infection down, and protect the most vulnerable and the NHS.

“There is some excellent work going on across all of our local authorities in Yorkshire and the Humber to try and suppress the spread of the virus and testing is widely available across the region including targeted community testing in places with more vulnerable populations.

People wearing masks in Leeds city centre earlier this year. Pic: SWNSPeople wearing masks in Leeds city centre earlier this year. Pic: SWNS
People wearing masks in Leeds city centre earlier this year. Pic: SWNS
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“But everyone has a role to play. A vital part of this is each and every one of us abiding by the restrictions in place - however hard it may seem at this time of the year. It is critical that we reduce our contacts especially mixing between households. We must observe the basic measures – wash our hands, wear a mask and keep our distance from others.”

In the week up to Christmas Day the rate in South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Hull and the East Riding was 175 per 100,000 compared with the English average of 374.

The rates in the over 60s in these areas increased by 6.4 per cent to 131 per 100, 000 compared to the England average of 232 per 100,000.

In North Yorkshire the county average was 189 as of Boxing Day but officials are worried about the district of Hambleton where the rate has "escalated very quickly" to 292.

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Nationwide, people are being warned not to add "fuel to the fire" as coronavirus cases rise across England and hospitals strain under the pressure of high numbers of Covid-19 patients.

The number of people testing positive for the virus in England also reached a new record high, with a total of 232,169 in the week to December 23 - the highest weekly total since Test and Trace was launched in May.

Intensive care doctor Professor Hugh Montgomery warned people who do not wear masks and continue to mix unnecessarily have "blood on their hands". He said anyone who thinks it is acceptable to have "one more night out" is spreading the virus.

He told BBC Radio Five Live: "Anyone who's listening to this who doesn't wear their mask and behaves like this - they have blood on their hands, they are spreading this virus. Other people will spread it and people will die. They won't know they've killed people but they have."