THE number of Covid patients at York and Scarborough hospitals has risen to five – but the latest data has revealed that very few older people have been catching the coronavirus.

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said yesterday it had five confirmed and suspected Covid-19 inpatients across the two sites, which compared with three last Friday and zero patients at one stage last month but also with 242 at the height of the last wave in January.

However, none of the five patients was in intensive care and the trust said a total of 2,175 Covid patients had now been discharged since the start of the pandemic, or were no longer being treated as having the coronavirus.

City of York Council has said in its latest Covid data tracker report that the city had been given a ‘red’ rating under a Public Health England ‘Exceedance’ rating system, which indicated that the previously observed trend in cases was worsening.

However, the report said that only one case out of 65 cases confirmed in the week to June 5 in the York area involved someone aged over 60.

Large numbers of people in this age group have been fully vaccinated, giving them good levels of protection even against the Delta variant which is spreading rapidly.

The drive to get people in their late 20s jabbed has also been stepped up, with a pop-up vaccination centre opening yesterday at the University of York.

All 300 pre-booked appointments were snapped up, mostly by students in the 25-30 age group. One of them, Pedro Henrique, 28, a Brazilian linguistics student, said he was ‘excited’ to be getting the jab.

Nurse Sue Atkinson, who gave him his jab, said: “Everyone seems really pleased to be here. Everyone is very positive and happy.”

Fiona Phillips, assistant director of public health at the council, said that whilst rates in York were lower than national and regional averages, the city had unfortunately seen an increase in recent weeks.

“This increase mostly accounts for groups that are yet to be vaccinated, or who have only had their first dose of the vaccine,” she said.

“After so many months of hard work we cannot afford to be complacent, and we all need to continue to work together to stop the spread of the virus.”

She said the vaccines were working and saving lives, and she urged people to get vaccinated if eligible, joining more than 125,000 residents who had had at least one dose.

“For anyone that has been invited, but hasn’t had their vaccine yet, please come forwards, it isn’t too late. Getting fully vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself and those around you as well as slow the spread of the virus.

“It is especially important with the presence of the Delta variant where a second dose really boosts your protection.”

Her comments came as it emerged that further cases of the Delta coronavirus have been confirmed in York.

Public Health England figures showed that 51 cases of the Delta variant had been recorded in York by June 9.