HOSPITAL bosses in York have pleaded with members of the public to ‘play a part in reducing the spread of coronavirus’ by complying with lockdown restrictions and following the ‘Hands, Face, Space’ hygiene advice as the number of Covid cases at the hospital continues to rise.

As of yesterday, staff at York Hospital were looking after 63 patients who had tested positive for the virus on three designated Covid wards.

‘We are (now) seeing similar numbers of patients with Covid-19 as we did during the first peak,” admitted the hospital’s deputy chief operating officer Melanie Liley.

Because of the number of Covid patients being admitted, Ms Liley said, both York and Scarborough hospitals were ‘under growing pressure’.

To compound the pressure, no fewer than 96 staff were absent as of yesterday for ‘Covid-related reasons’ across York Hospitals Trust - which includes both York and Scarborough hospitals, and also other, smaller hospital and community health sites. The Trust employs about 8,000 people.

“The situation with staff absence fluctuates,” Ms Liley told the Press. “But Covid-related absence currently accounts for around a quarter of all sickness absence.” Gaps are being filled by agency and bank staff, she said.

Ms Liley admitted that no York Hospital staff had yet been vaccinated against the virus. “We plan to begin vaccinating staff from next week when the vaccine is delivered,” she said.

Given the growing pressure, the hospitals trust has already had to bring into play the next step in its Covid ‘surge plan’ by releasing more beds and staff to cope with the growing number of coronaviruis cases.

As a result, a ‘small number’ of operations has had to be postponed, Ms Liley said.

“As far as possible it is routine planned procedures and operations we postpone first, where the clinical need is less urgent.

“We have continued with day case surgery and carried out as many urgent operations, for example for patients with cancer, as we can. Emergency patients continue to be treated as normal.”

Asked what the hospital would do if the number of patients with Covid continued to increase, she said: “At times of particular pressure neighbouring hospitals across the region provide support - as we do for them. This can be for either Covid or non Covid-patients.”

At the time of speaking, Ms Liley said York Hospital was not looking after any Covid patients from other areas.

Ms Liley said that A&E departments in both York and Scarborough were particularly busy - unlike in the first wave of the pandemic.

She urged people not to go to A&E unless absolutely necessary. “Please help us to help you by only using A&E for emergencies that are life or limb-threatening,” she said. “If you are unsure about what to do, please consult NHS 111 first (by phone or online) to help you get the right service.”

Staff were doing an outstanding job responding to the pandemic, Ms Liley said. But she admitted: “It has been a challenging time for everyone, and many staff are feeling tired and anxious.”

Ms Liley spoke out after it had been confirmed that York would be entering Tier 3 - along with North Yorkshire.

The announcement was made by Health secretary Matt Hancock in a statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon.

It came after a stark increase in coronaviris infection rates in York which saw the number of cases across the city rise from 60 per 100,000 at the start of December to 240.2 per 100,000 on Wednesday.

Nationally, there were 50,023 new Covid cases yesterday.

The new Tier 3 restrictions in place in York mean that bars pubs, cafes, restaurants, and social clubs have had to close again except for takeaway, delivery and click and collect services.