North Yorkshire residents warned to follow rules or risk NHS not coping

People in North Yorkshire are being warned to follow the rules or risk the NHS not being able to cope.

The County Council's Covid-19 forum met yesterday and say the number of people being admitted to hospital is increasing.

Amanda Bloor, Accountable Officer of North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said:

"We may not reach the same position and the same escalated position as we did.

"But it's really important, I think, to really follow all the guidance to help protect the NHS in North Yorkshire and prevent the spread.

"The levels of hospitalisation are increasing in North Yorkshire and York.

"They are not yet at the levels of the first peak, which was around 300 patients and we're currently at 118.

"But what we are seeing is that the number of the patients in intensive care, who require mechanical ventilation, are around half the numbers that we saw at the beginning of the peak.

"Patients are slightly younger than they were in the first peak, so sort of 60s as opposed to 70s, and requiring oxygen therapy but not necessarily mechanical intervention in the intensive care unit."