Whitby infection rate due to 'massive influx of visitors' says Town Council

Whitby Town Council says it welcomes the advice which has been circulating to homes in the town this weekend to try and stop the spread of Covid-19.

The authority said:

"Whitby has been highlighted, by Scarborough Borough Council and by North Yorkshire’s Executive Director of Health and Adult Services as a concentration of Covid-19, with significant spikes across the town.

"But the data being reported are averages across the whole borough and are significantly underplaying the local statistics which have seen a rate of 824.2 per 100,000 in South and East Whitby by 10 November.

"Whitby Town Council has been asking for local, targeted information to reassure residents and to properly inform visitors of the risks posed by infection levels this high. The town council welcomes the advice which has been circulated to homes in Whitby this weekend.

"The local rate has been climbing steadily since the massive influx of visitors at the end of October. The new national lockdown has continued to promote beach visits as exercise, but not to encourage people to exercise as close to home as they can."

Whitby Town Mayor, Cllr Linda Wild, welcomed the distribution of local leaflets but said:

“It’s too little, too late! We should have been telling people, especially those from surrounding areas with high infections to think very carefully about how the virus spreads. We are in that position now. We need to stay at home and we need everybody else to stay at home.

"We know from our neighbours that infections have been climbing since half-term. Now the signs have gone up and the streets are quiet again. Although we appreciate the advice from North Yorkshire’s public health team, we need to be better at this, national and county-wide bodies need to be able to intervene earlier to stop the spread not just react to it.

"With or without a vaccine, we’ll face these decisions again. If we are kind to ourselves, compassionate to strangers and take good care of our neighbours then we might all get through this together.”