FOUR years after York was first hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, health officials are to stop providing regular updates about the virus because case rates are now so low.

The decision appears to leave the City of York Council area with an official final Covid death toll of 615.

A ‘Covid-19 daily data tracker’ report was published every quarter in 2023, providing a range of information, including the total number of people who had died since the start of the pandemic with Covid recorded on their death certificates.

Using statistics provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the public health reports, produced by the council's Business Intelligence Hub, said last September that there had been 600 such deaths, and the figure rose to 615 by December 22.

But the latest report, for the first quarter of 2024 leading up to March 31, does not give a figure, instead stating simply 'NC' (not collected).

And it seems unlikely any further figures will be published in future, because the report reveals that no more Covid data updates are currently scheduled for 2024/25 "as case rates remain low".

READ NEXT:

The report says just three new cases of Covid were recorded per 100,000 people in the week March 28 to April 3 - a rate of 1.49.

It adds that, as of April 3, York residents had had a total of 75,556 'Covid episodes' since the start of the pandemic.

That is a rate of 37,465 per 100,000 population, similar to the national rate of 37,305.

Peter Roderick, director of public health at City of York Council, said: “Throughout the pandemic we shared regular updates of important information to help keep the people of York informed. However, the national datasets we used to collate this information are no longer available or are no longer being updated, due to changes in testing regimes.

“We will continue working alongside partners, including the UKHSA (UK Health Security Agency), to keep those around us safe and healthy, and have integrated our Covid response into our general respiratory protection work in York.

"This approach continues to highlight the importance of infection prevention and control, testing in hospitals, and managing outbreaks, particularly in care settings.

“Covid has had a huge impact on the city, and our thoughts are with the friends and relatives of those who have died or those impacted by the illness, long Covid and the wider effects of restrictions.

"We’ve come a long way and are hugely grateful to residents, businesses and health partners in York for the part they played in protecting others and keeping the NHS from being overwhelmed.”