Friday update: York put up to red rating after unexpected rise in new coronavirus cases

Face masks will be compulsory in shops. Photograph: Liam McBurney / PA

York has been put onto Public Health England’s red rating for the first time, after the number of coronavirus cases in the city were higher than expected.

The PHE ‘exceedance’ measure compares the number of new cases over a 14-day period with the previous six weeks, and provides a red /amber /green rating to indicate if things are getting worse or better.

The latest rating for York is red. This was triggered after two tests in the last 14 days gave a higher than expected number of cases per 100 – three cases on 9 August, and six cases on 16 August.

City of York Council said: “We know that in recent weeks the number of cases have been low in York which has an effect on the thresholds used to determine the RAG rating – a small change can mean the difference between a red, amber and green rating.

“The exceedance report should not be considered in isolation but in context alongside other factors such as the recent total number of cases, COVID related deaths, outbreaks as well as changes in the local testing regime and local hotspot analysis.”

As at 18 August, the latest seven-day positivity rate in York (Pillar 2 only) was 0.64% (11 positives out of 1,710 tests). The positivity rate in York is lower than national (1.2%) and regional (1.7%) averages.

Meanwhile there has been one more coronavirus cases confirmed in York today (Friday, 21 August).

That takes the cumulative total in the city to 947 – giving an infection rate of 449.6 cases per 100,000 people.

The rolling seven-day rate in York is 3.8 new cases per 100,000 people (eight cases in the week to August 18). That’s down from 5.2 in the previous seven days.

In North Yorkshire there were two new cases confirmed today, taking the total to 2,677 – a cumulative infection rate of 433.1 cases per 100,000 people.

There are 141 cases in Ryedale (no change), 331 in Selby (no change), 759 in Harrogate (up one) and 568 in Scarborough (no change).

There were no more coronavirus related deaths reported by York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust reported today – the total remains at 214. The last death recorded within the trust was on 18 June.

The total includes 134 in York Hospital and 80 in Scarborough.

Here are the updated figures (yesterday’s numbers in brackets):

  • Total lab confirmed UK cases: 323,313 (322,280)
  • Daily lab confirmed UK cases: 1,033 (1,182)
  • Total number UK deaths: 41,405 (41,403)
  • Daily UK deaths: 2 (6)
  • Confirmed cases in York: 947 (946)
  • Confirmed cases in North Yorkshire: 2,677 (2,675)
  • Confirmed cases in East Yorkshire: 1,682 (1,678)