ONLY eight York schoolchildren have tested positive for Covid in a week - but six care homes in the city have got cases amongst staff and residents.

The figures are revealed in City of York Council's latest Covid data tracker report.

It says that in the seven days up to last Sunday, February 14, eight children of primary and secondary school age tested positive. This is down from 19 in the previous seven day period.

But it says that as of Thursday, there were six care homes in the local authority's area with confirmed Covid-19 infection, involving at least one a staff member or resident. This is up from five care homes with cases a week earlier.

The report says the latest ‘outbreak,’ involving two or more cases, in a residential care setting in York was reported by Public Health England on Monday, and at York Hospital, there were 55 confirmed Covid patients in General and Acute beds as of Wednesday. The figure a week earlier was 85.

The report reveals that there were nine confirmed Covid-19 patients in the Intensive Treatment Unit, compared with 13 a week earlier, and 36 residents from the York council area were discharged from the hospital after needing NHS care for symptoms linked to Covid-19, between February 8 and 14.