RYEDALE’S MP has said he expects the region to move into a higher coronavirus tier this week.

Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, who took part in the weekly North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum call yesterday (Tuesday), said:”There is no doubt that rates are climbing significantly and North Yorkshire rates are at similar levels to areas that were put into Tier 3.

“I am still arguing for a super local approach to keep some districts in Tier 2, but regrettably, I think we can reasonably expect York and North Yorkshire to enter a higher tier in the next few days, my best guess being the early hours of New Year’s Day.

“In terms of which tier, it appears that infection rates are not dropping significantly in those areas currently under Tier 3 restrictions. My view then, and I speak as the parent of a child taking their A-levels next year, I would prefer a shorter, sharper, shock with wider closure of the economy, together with extended financial support for businesses and with schools providing a full timetable on an online-only basis until the end of January.

“At that point, with vaccinations starting to have meaningful effect we should be through the worst of this desperately damaging crisis.”

More than 360 have now died of Covid-related deaths at York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust hospitals. NHS England say there had been a total of 364 Covid-related deaths at the trust hospitals, which includes York and Scarborough hospitals, since the start of the pandemic.

The latest figures by Public Health England show Ryedale’s rolling seven-day rate per 100,000 population is 146.3, below that of Scarborough, at 240.9, City of York at 218.4 and North Yorkshire at 174.7.

The figures below show (in this order) - the district, number of cases in the past seven day, the seven day rate per 100,000 population, and the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic.

Ryedale - 81, 146.3, 957;Scarborough - 262, 240.9, 3,772;City of York - 460, 218.4, 6,767;North Yorkshire - 1,080, 174.7, 16,596 and East Riding of Yorkshire - 611, 179.1, 11,885.

York’s coronavirus rate is now higher than other Yorkshire cities, including Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield after rocketing over the past fortnight. Less than two weeks ago the city had one of the lowest rates in the country, with only about 65 cases per 100,000 population.

Coronavirus testing sites are available today (Wednesday) at Scarborough Park and Ride, Seamer Road, Scarborough, and tomorrow (Thursday) at Whitby Marina Car Park, Langbourne Road, Whitby, Filey Country Park, Church Cliff Drive, Filey and Wentworth Street Car Park, Malton.

For m ore information go to northyorks.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid-19-testing or phone 119.