TWENTY-FIVE more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in York and North and East Yorkshire - but health chiefs say the area is still faring far better than many other parts of the country.

Public Health England said today that a total of 2,628 cases had been confirmed in the North Yorkshire County Council area, up by 14 on Wednesday's figure.

It said a total of 938 cases had been confirmed in the City of York Council area, up by three on Wednesday's statistic, and there was a total of1,671 in the East Riding of Yorkshire Council area, up by eight.

Among the district councils, Ryedale - which went almost a month without a single new case being confirmed until recently - had three new cases confirmed, taking its total to 140.

The increases cover a 48 hour period, rather than the usual 24 hours, because no data was published yesterday.

Fiona Phillips, Assistant Director for Public Health at City of York Council said figures remained low in the city, thanks to the work of residents and businesses to keep each other safe.

“We are constantly monitoring the latest data and trends and the number of cases remain far lower than those seen across the region and the country," she said.

"Whilst it is good news that figures remain low, this update and what we have seen in other areas of the country and around the world also shows that we can’t be complacent.

“We all have a role to play in stopping the spread of the virus by social distancing, wearing a face covering, washing our hands regularly and staying at home and getting tested if we have symptoms.”

Dr Lincoln Sergeant, North Yorkshire’s Director of Public Health said: "Our outbreak management plan outlines how we work with Public Health England and NHS Test and Trace on identifying and following up on cases, clusters and outbreaks.

“It is important to understand the context of cases. For example, we detected a number of cases through whole home testing in care homes. Multiple cases may occur in a single household. Determining whether there is a hotspot relies on having a range of information in addition to the number of new cases in an area.

“We monitor where cases are developing and actively manage a small number outbreaks (two or more linked cases) in settings where these occur. We do not routinely report on these unless there is indication of risk to local communities.

“Where cases occur in a hospitality venue we work with PHE, NHS Test and Trace, and local district and borough council environmental health teams to identify contacts who are advised to self-isolate and on measures to control spread. The measures vary on the situation.

“It is important to emphasise that the mainstay for prevention remains social distancing, hand hygiene and face coverings where social distancing of 2m not possible. Covid-19 can spread asymptomatically and we are more likely to be infected by people we know and spend time with indoors than from casual brief contact with strangers.

“We have a joint approach with partners to support hospitality venues to implement measures to prevent Covid-19. Where there are concerns the licencing authorities will act quickly to manage risks. People need to be vigilant when visiting venues and proactive to raise concerns with the establishment.”