YORK has been given a ‘red’ Covid rating as cases rise – but the latest data has revealed just how few of those cases involve older residents.

A total of 65 new coronavirus infections were confirmed in the York council area in the period May 30 to June 5, giving a rate of 30.9 per 100,000 population, according to the authority’s latest Covid data tracker report.

But the rate during the same period for York people aged 60+ was just 2.0, with only one case confirmed.

Most people in this age group have received both doses of the vaccine, giving them high levels of protection against even the Delta variant of concern.

The report said recent provisional data on cases where tests were processed in a laboratory which could identify Variants of Concern showed that over half of new cases in the most recent month in York were likely to be the Delta Variant, which was originally identified in India.

The report says the city has been given a red rating under a Public Health England ‘Exceedance’ rating system, which compares the number of new cases over a 14 day period with the previous six weeks and indicates if the previously observed trend is worsening. The red rating indicates that it is worsening.

The report says that in the seven days up to June 7, there were 14 children of primary or secondary school age who tested positive across eight different schools. The figure compares with 19 children a week ago.

It adds that one individual at the University of York and two at York St John University were currently self isolating after positive tests.

The report comes after York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said on Friday that it was treating three Covid patients at York and Scarborough hospitals, one of whom was in intensive care.