York’s coronavirus rates have fallen – but are still higher than last summer, the public health team has warned.
Sharon Stoltz urged people to continue to follow the guidelines to help lower the spread of the virus so that the provisional timetable for lifting lockdown restrictions can be achieved.
The city’s current rate is 73.6 cases per 100,000 people.
Ms Stoltz said: “That is higher than the rate last summer, when we were in single figures for quite a lot of the time.
“We’re still seeing more than 20 cases a day and last summer we were seeing one or two – we had some days where we had no cases at all.
“This is one of the concerns, we don’t want to open up too quickly and see case rates rise again. But also we’re going to have to learn to live with Covid. This virus is not just going to suddenly go away.”
She added that people are likely to need to wash their hands, follow social distancing indoors and wear face coverings for some time yet: “We are all responsible for how quickly York and the rest of the country can come out of lockdown.”
“That comes down to every single individual – to take up the offer of a vaccine, to follow ‘hand face space’, to get themselves tested and to self isolating if they test positive.
“If we all follow those guidelines then we will meet the timescales on the roadmap and we can really look forward to a great summer.”