Covid testing for local residents who are free of any symptoms will be available at the Acorn Rugby Club car park on Thanet Road on Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd February from 9am to 3pm.
You will be able to book a test from the evening of Sunday 31 January at www.nhs.uk/Coronavirus and selecting the option that you were asked to attend by your local council.
Covid testing for local residents who are free of any symptoms will be available again at the Acorn Rugby Club car park on Thanet Road on Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th January from 9am to 3pm.
You will be able to book a test from the evening of Sunday 24 January at www.nhs.uk/Coronavirus and selecting the option that you were asked to attend by your local council.
Going forward, the plan is for testing to be available at Acorn Rugby Club one day a week. We understand that each Wednesday afternoon the council will be informed which day the testing will be available in the following week (it is hoped that it will be the same day each week, but this can’t be guaranteed). As soon as more information is available, it will be publicised.
Three new benches have been installed around Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ward, in response to requests from residents for more places to stop for a rest whilst out for a walk.
Two benches have been installed beside the path that links the Revival estate with the Green Lane cycle / footpath. The route has become increasingly popular with walkers since the first lockdown.
And one bench has been installed on Little Hob Moor, further down the hill from the location of an existing bench.
Meanwhile the Woodthorpe Community Group is progressing plans to install benches at locations including outside the shops on Moorcroft Road and outside the playground on Woodthorpe Green.
With infection rates remaining at a high level in the west of the city, City of York Council has announced that the symptom-free Covid-19 testing that has been available at Acorn Rugby Club on Thanet Road for the past week is to be extended.
So far around 1,000 tests have been carried out and to offer more people the chance to get tested, the site will be open on Thursday 14 January and then from Saturday 16 January and Wednesday 20 January inclusive with the same opening times as before (9am-3pm).
It is not a ‘drive-through’ site, so you can attend on foot. Testing can be undertaken on anyone aged 5 and over.
1 in 3 cases of Covid-19 have no symptoms and people can spread the virus without knowing it to those who may have a more serious illness as a result of catching it. Finding these symptom-free cases will help to reduce rates in the coming weeks.
You can book a test by visiting www.nhs.uk/Coronavirus or calling 119 and selecting the option that you were asked to attend by your local council.
On the website you may find that Acorn Rugby Club doesn’t appear as a testing site to choose. This happens most afternoons. If Acorn doesn’t appear on the list, please try again after 6.30pm when the testing slots for Acorn are usually released for the following day.
Thanks for your support.
In recent days there has been a spike in the number of Coronavirus cases in the Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ward, and particularly in the Woodthorpe and Acomb Park area. In response, City of York Council is offering residents the chance to get a symptom-free test.
1 in 3 cases of Coronavirus have no symptoms but for some catching Coronavirus can have serious consequences. To help stop the spread, residents in Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ward are invited to get a test. A testing site has been set up at York Acorn Rugby Club, Thanet Road, YO24 2NW. This site will be open from Wednesday 6th to Wednesday 13th January inclusive, between 9am and 3pm.
How it works
Book to have a test at www.nhs.uk/coronavirus. Please note that the Department for Health & Social Care will release booking slots later today (5th) for the morning of Wednesday 6th January, and will release afternoon slots on the morning of the 6th.
On this website select that you do not have symptoms of Coronavirus, but in the relevant section choose the option ‘my local council or health protection team has asked me to get a test even though I don’t have symptoms’. Then select the site at York Acorn Rugby Club. Testing can be undertaken on anyone aged 5 and over. It is not recommended that you are tested if you have tested positive in the previous 90 days. Ring 119 if you are not able to book online.
If you have symptoms of Coronavirus please do not attend this site, instead book a test through www.nhs.uk/coronavirus or by calling 119 and select the Poppleton Bar site or a home testing kit.
Getting your results
You should get your results within 24-48 hours of your test.
If you receive a negative test result you can continue as you were.
Remember:
Positive test results
If you receive a positive test result you must self-isolate for 10 days.
The data for the seven days ending on 28th December show Covid-19 infection rates continue to rise, with Woodthorpe & Acomb Park having a rolling rate of 845.6 cases per 100,000 population, the highest in York.
These figures pre-date York being moved from Tier 2 into Tier 3 – it is to be hoped that the tighter restrictions will help to bring the case rate down.
The Government’s interactive Covid map is available HERE
It will of course continue to be vital that residents continue to follow the Hands / Face / Space mantra, and adhere to the Tier 3 restrictions summarised on the posters below.
The Dringhouses Local History Group is to hold its first virtual meeting on 3 December. The talk, by Neil Moran, will focus on ‘Health Care in York Through the Ages.’
In response to requests from residents, local councillors have arranged for a bench to be installed outside the Woodthorpe Green playground, funded through the ward budget.
Since lockdown began, walking around Woodthorpe has become a more popular pastime, and for some residents the opportunity to take a rest is much appreciated. This led to calls for more benches to be installed, and the Woodthorpe Community Group is now consulting residents on other possible locations.
The bench outside the playground will also be a benefit for parents or carers whose children use the playground but who have had to stand outside if they have a dog. The bench will enable the parent or carer to have a sit down and keep an eye on the kids in the playgrounds.
The next local improvement being funded by the ward budget is the resurfacing of the uneven and badly potholed path across the Green between Summerfield Road and Glenridding.
The Government has announced that York will be subject to additional restrictions, following a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases.
From 00:01hrs on Saturday 17 October, York will be been placed at the high level (tier 2) of the Government’s new three-tier restriction system.
The new restrictions for tier 2 mean:
What is a ‘support bubble’ and a ‘childcare bubble’?
A ‘support bubble’ can be established between a household with only one adult in the home, and one other household of any size. Find out more at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/making-a-support-bubble-with-another-household
Informal childcare can be provided via ‘childcare bubbles’. A childcare bubble is where someone in one household provides informal (unpaid and unregistered) childcare to a child aged 13 or under in another household. For any given childcare bubble, this must always be between the same 2 households. Friends or family who do not live with you and are not part of a support or childcare bubble must not visit your home to help with childcare. Childcare bubbles are to be used to provide childcare only, and not for the purposes of different households mixing where they are otherwise not allowed to do so. Find out more at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-covid-alert-level-high#childcare
To learn more about the new measures and what support is available locally, please visit www.york.gov.uk/Coronavirus. The council will also be holding a special Facebook Live ‘Ask the Leaders’ Q&A session at www.facebook.com/CityofYork on Friday 16 October, further details to follow.
Signs have been erected at the former Askham Bar Park & Ride site announcing that it will close on 24 September and will then be used by the NHS as a ‘mass flu vaccination site.’
Cllr Stephen Fenton noticed on 17 September that signs had gone up and that the car park had benefited from a deep clean. A worker on site said that he had spent four days doing a thorough litter pick and cutting back vegetation which had taken over many of the parking bays.
Stephen has asked for clarification on how the site will operate, as it currently serves as a cut-through for residents going to and from the Tesco store.
It is understood that the site is being mobilised to create additional vaccination capacity on the back of the announcement that, in addition to the normal flu vaccination programme, 50 to 64-year-olds who do not have a health condition putting them at risk of the flu will also be eligible for a free flu vaccine.
Since its transformation from a Park & Ride site into a £4 per day City of York Council Pay & Display car park, the site has been very little used. It was often strewn with litter, which volunteers tried to keep on top of, and was the venue for some late evening ‘boy racer’ meet-ups.
In the draft Local Plan the site is earmarked for housing.