East Riding Health Boss Says COVID Compliance Good but Difficult

Visitors to reopened East Riding venues and businesses should continue following coronavirus rules following reports that enforcement is becoming more difficult, the council’s public health boss has said.

East Riding Council’s Public Health Director Andy Kingdom said businesses which reopened on Monday, April 12 told officials compliance with coronavirus rules was generally “very good” in the first week.

But he added reports now suggested patrons were mixing more and distancing less as figures showed an increase in cases among 16 to 29 year olds locally since the easing.

It comes as new coronavirus cases overall in the East Riding dropped from 153 recorded from Friday, April 9 to Thursday, April 15 to 118 the following week.

The seven day rolling rate of cases per 100,000 people fell from 45 to 37 during the same period.

Mr Kingdom said it was “inevitable” that case numbers would go up after restrictions eased and the increase had not yet reached the “surge” levels officials feared.

But he added patrons should still follow basic guidance around mask wearing, distancing and hand washing after recent surges in India and elsewhere showed how quickly the situation could change.

The director said:

“We’ve managed to take the hit of opening up, although new case figures for over 100 are disappointing, I’d like it to be below that now.

“But we haven’t had an exponential rise in cases like we saw in September for example.

“That’s mostly because the majority of people are still following the rules and because of the vaccine rollout.

“Venues are saying it’s becoming more difficult to enforce them now, we’re getting reports of more groups mixing between tables and of patrons not keeping their distance from each other.

“Businesses are under quite strong restrictions at the moment which are in place to keep staff and customers safe.

“The public can help them out by sticking to those rules, otherwise those businesses could face penalties for not complying.

“We know that people might be confused as to what the new boundaries are, we’ve seen that before when restrictions have changed.

“People just need to stick to the rules for a little bit longer, by planning ahead and thinking about their limits of acceptable behaviour.”

Mr Kingdom said he did not agree with a recent study which concluded Britain was no longer in the pandemic phase of coronavirus.

He added while Britain’s vaccine rollout and restrictions had brought numbers down, the basis for the claim, the situation nationally could not be taken in isolation from the global one.

The director said:

“Just because we’re in a calmer part of the sea doesn’t mean that a wave couldn’t come our way.

“If a pandemic is defined as a worldwide situation then we’re still in that and people here have links through their families to places like India where infections have surged recently and where one of the new variants comes from.

“Also the Kent variant which started here is causing spikes in Europe and the US and coronavirus itself originated in China and spread, what happens in other parts of the world can happen to us.

“The claim the study made was that we’d moved from pandemic to endemic levels here where it’s more in the background, but even though coronavirus is no longer the biggest killer in Britain its still the third biggest.”

The director said the council was also drawing up plans for more signage and staff in coastal towns and other destinations as the East Riding enters the traditional holiday season.

He added holidaymakers would be welcome but should organise trips in a “coronavirus safe” way and have a plan b in case the situation begins to worsen.

Mr Kingdom said:

“We’re aiming for an environment that will be relaxed but vigilant for visitors.

“It won’t be a normal holiday this year and holiday makers should respect locals who might be anxious as more visitors come, many of them still won’t have had their vaccines.

“If you’re unsure call the destination directly, make sure to bring your mask and hand sanitiser with you and avoid crowds and being indoors if you can.

“I understand people’s desire to be sure about their holidays but we’re still in an uncertain situation, so hope for the best but plan for the worst.”