MALTON Town Council has installed 100 coronavirus signs around the town in a bid to protect residents and traders.

The council has provided the signs to encourage people to “do their bit” to ensure the area remains in tier one, the lowest of the government’s current three tiers.

Malton mayor Cllr Paul Emberley said: “In view of the rising numbers of coronavirus infections in our region, Malton Town Council has taken the initiative to install 100 signs in prominent places asking everyone to ‘do their bit’ for our community. Wash hands, cover face, and make space.

“It’s only by strict adherence to the guidelines that we’ll help to ensure we can stay in tier one, and above all to protect our residents and traders. But let’s please also encourage all our visitors to do the same to keep our people safe and to preserve our rural economy.”

Public Health England is now providing data which shows the total number of cases reported in our area for the whole of the pandemic, as well as the number of new cases in the last seven days and the seven day rate per 100,000 population.

The figures show (in this order) - the district, number of cases in the past seven day, seven day rate per 100,000 population and total number of cases since the start of the pandemic.

Latest figures for our area are: Ryedale - 47, 84.9, 384 (up 7 in the previous 24 hours), Scarborough - 132, 121.4, 1,184 (up 13), City of York - 645, 306.2, 3,397 (up 83), North Yorkshire - 973, 157.4, 7,047 (up 174), East Riding of Yorkshire - 776, 227.5, 4,189 (up 130) All of these figures include both pillar 1 and pillar 2 cases.

In the run up to Halloween on Saturday and Bonfire Night on November 5, public health officials are asking people to make sure they remember to stick to the everyday Covid-19 safety rules as they change their normal routines or take part in social events.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, North Yorkshire’s director of public health, said: “It’s important that people look after their mental health and wellbeing by taking part in social events, or marking occasions such as Halloween.

“We want people to enjoy this time, but also take steps to keep themselves and others safe by following the guidance and taking steps to prevent the virus spreading further.”

County Cllr Patrick Mulligan, executive member for education and skills, said: “We know the measures schools have in place in North Yorkshire are proving effective in preventing the spread of the virus within schools, as the overwhelming majority of coronavirus cases in schools tend to only involve one or two pupils or staff.

“We’re asking people to make sure they are continuing to follow the restrictions while outside schools and workplaces. We want people to have that social time, but protect yourself and others by not meeting in groups of more than six indoors or outdoors when seeing people you do not live with, or who are not part of your bubble, to protect yourselves and others. We are now entering autumn and winter and I know people, especially children, may find this hard, but the sooner we can bring the virus under control, the sooner we can get back to normal and doing the things we enjoy.”