North Yorkshire Council boss urges continues Covid caution

Chief Executive Richard Flinton has sent a message to residents.

Author: Jon BurkePublished 16th Sep 2021
Last updated 16th Sep 2021

The Chief Executive of North Yorkshire County Council is urging people to maintain their caution around Coronavirus, as we head into Winter.

Richard Flinton has sent a message to residents.

He said:

"As we enjoy getting out and about these warm sunny days at the back end of the summer and as our schools begin their new year, I am sure none of us want the Prime Minister to have to resort to plan B of his Covid winter plans.

None of us want a return of restrictions because high Covid-19 infection rates are overwhelming the NHS and indeed we can all play our part in a number of small but important ways to try to avoid such an eventuality.

Our Respect & Protect campaign aims to encourage people to continue to show consideration by continuing to wear face masks indoors where we feel this can help to protect others; to think about keeping inside spaces well ventilated when we are with numbers of other people; to show kindness to other people who may not feel as confident as ourselves when carrying out normal daily tasks. They all contribute to the team effort in keeping each other safe and well. The headline Covid infection rate in North Yorkshire, as in Yorkshire and the North East, is still relatively high and above the England average so we are by no means out of the woods.

We have come a long way over the last 18 months and we want to keep that going. When we hear stories, like that at our Covid-19 press conference today of Will Wale who runs the North Yorkshire joinery business Scawton Kitchens and who was called upon by the NHS during the first wave of the pandemic to make coffins for the people who died of Covid in London, we realise the difference the vaccination programme has made in saving lives. It is vitally important therefore that we all come forward to be doubly vaccinated – our best line of defence.

There are other pressures of course as we enjoy the opening up of the economy and as shops and pubs and distribution businesses seek to recruit in a very competitive jobs market. Across the UK as in our county, the social care sector in particular is facing an unprecedented recruitment crisis.

So while we welcome the Prime Minister’s social care plans to deal with the unexpected costs people have faced around paying for their care, we await the urgent need for Government to address the widespread workforce pressures now facing the sector."

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