Covid: York infection rate highest since start of pandemic

York's coronavirus infection rate is at its highest level since the start of the pandemic and expected to rise further, health officials have said.

The city's rate on 1 January was 490.9 cases per 100,000 people, the highest in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Director of public health Sharon Stoltz said she expected the rate to rise further until the effects of the England-wide lockdown were felt.

She urged people to obey lockdown rules to ensure case numbers dropped.

Ms Stoltz told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it would take time to reverse the trend.

"We now have the highest rate in the region and I'm expecting that rate to continue to increase over the next seven to 14 days," she said.

York's previous infection peak was 445 per 100,000 people on 16 October, according to the city council.

The latest figures are higher than the England average of 481 cases per 100,000. The Yorkshire and Humber average is 264.6 cases per 100,000 people.

Ms Stoltz said the decision to impose an England-wide lockdown was the right one.

"Any lockdown is a difficult decision. I think it was the right decision. It's important now that everybody obeys the rules around that so we can get the rate down as quickly as possible."

She added the city was ready to administer a high number of vaccinations, but staff were waiting for supplies.

"We can only vaccinate as many people as there are vaccines available," she said.

"There are some logistical issues at the moment. As soon as those vaccine supplies start to come in, we are in a very good position to vaccinate lots of people very quickly and I'm confident that it will be delivered well."

Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said he was confident issues would be addressed and there would be a significant increase in the number of vaccinations being delivered.

The clinical commissioning group for North Yorkshire said it expected to receive supplies of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine by the end of the week.

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