YORK Hospital has seen a big fall in the number of Covid-19 patients - but a health chief has warned of an ‘inevitable rebound’ in coronavirus infections after families mix indoors over Christmas.

The hospital currently has 36 patients with coronavirus, down by 29 on the number a week ago, said Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for the three North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Groups.

She told a media briefing yesterday that the number of such patients in Harrogate Hospital was down by nine to 22, and in Scarborough Hospital it was down by six to 53.

But Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health at North Yorkshire County Council, said that while infection rates had fallen significantly across the county, it was essential to try to get them even lower before the festive season.

He said the latest weekly rolling rate for North Yorkshire as a whole was 106.9 per 100,000 population, compared to an average across England of 153.9.

The Selby district currently had the highest rate in the county, with 134.6 per 100,000 population, Scarborough and Craven both had 127.8, Ryedale’s rate was 102.9, Hambleton’s rate was 98.6 and Harrogate’s was 92.

He expected the decline to continue but the rates were still quite high and there was ‘still some way to go’ compared with the baseline in early September, when rates were in the 20s and 30s.

He said there was a risk of people dropping their guard and the momentum being lost, and at Christmas there would be vulnerable people mixing indoors with other family members, causing an inevitable rebound in the infection rate.

Meanwhile, a senior officer revealed that Yorkshire Police issued 232 fixed penalty notices for breaches of restrictions during the second lockdown.

Supt Mike Walker said 178 were issued along the Yorkshire coast and 29 in York, with 124 going to local residents and 108 to visitors. He said the vast majority were for being outside without a ‘reasonable excuse’, with 46 issued for indoor gatherings and 62 for outdoor gatherings.

He warned that there would be a visible police presence to enforce the restrictions under the new tiers system, for example making sure that businesses were adhering to rules and restrictions.