Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the threshold is for the introduction of further covid-19 restrictions in York, given the increased infection rate in the city.

There is no single hard threshold. The thresholds are not fixed between the local COVID alert levels because they take into consideration a range of metrics and intelligence. This includes positivity rates, case rates through the age groups, and hospital pressures including COVID-19 admissions but also indirect impact, staffing levels and absences.

Decisions to move from high to very high will therefore be taken by looking at these range of factors as well as advice from local public health teams and input from local council leaders.