HEALTH officials are trying to find out why Pocklington is seeing the worst coronavirus outbreak of anywhere in East Yorkshire as it was confirmed that two schools have been affected.

Latest figures from Public Health England show there were 58 Covid cases confirmed in the town and nearby villages during the seven days to October 9.

That is more than any other area in the East Riding of Yorkshire Council area or Hull, and more than any neighbourhood in York other than the Fulford, Heslington and university area.

A council spokeswoman said two of the three East Riding schools in Pocklington - Woldgate Secondary School and Pocklington Junior School - had reported positive cases, resulting in groups of children having to self-isolate in line with the national guidance. She said that, to date, Pocklington Infant School had not reported any positive cases to the council.

The Press reported earlier this week that half the clinicians at Pocklington Group Practice GP surgery were not at work because of the coronavirus, and a number of reception staff were having to self isolate this week as well.

Mike McDermott, associate director of public health at the council, said the authority was aware of a recent rise in cases in the Pocklington area and was investigating the reasons for this.

He said it was also looking into what it could do to prevent the spread of the virus in this location.

“We are asking the public to follow our 3 Steps To Safety, to prevent, notice and act in terms of maintaining good hand hygiene, wearing face coverings unless exempt, noticing any symptoms and getting tested if they are symptomatic," he said.

“We are also requesting that people stay home when they have symptoms, they are awaiting a test result, they have tested positive for Covid-19 or when they have been asked to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace or the council.”

The spokeswoman added that across East Yorkshire, 27 schools were currently experiencing pupil or staff self-isolation because of the virus and there were currently 18 care homes with Covid-19 related cases and 13 individual cases of Covid-19 for care home residents.

Pocklington does not have many of the factors behind the rise in cases in many cities, such as large numbers of university students or high levels of deprivation.

Pocklington councillor Kay West said people in the town were aware of the large number of cases but didn't know why it was so bad.