THE number of people in York suffering from Covid-19 has risen past a key milestone - turning the city blue on an official map.

Public Health England said today that the seven-day rolling Covid infection rate in the City of York Council area in the week to June 9 was 51.3 per 100,000 population.

This means the city is now shaded a pale blue in a PHE map, surrounded by other areas mostly shaded in green, after its rate exceeded a threshold of 50.

The city’s figure is up from 46.1 on Sunday and from just under 10 back in May but it was still hugely lower than the peak of 670 experienced at the peak of the second wave in January.

The figure was also lower than the national average for England, of 67.1 per 100,000 people, and for the UK, of 67.5.

PHE said the rate in the North Yorkshire County Council area had risen to 41.9 confirmed cases per 100,000 after 259 cases were confirmed, and in the East Riding of Yorkshire Council area it had grown to 27.

Ryedale, which for several weeks until recently had zero cases, putting it at the bottom of a national Covid infection league table, had a rate today of 18.1 after 10 cases were confirmed in the week.

Selby’s rate had risen to 70.6 after 64 cases, Hambleton’s was 31.7 after 29 cases and Harrogate’s was 55.3 after 89 cases.