PEOPLE are being urged not to pick up discarded face masks because they pose an infection risk.

Public health boss Sharon Stoltz said it is “outrageous” that some residents and visitors drop used face masks.

And people should not try to remove them - but instead contact City of York Council so that they can be safely removed.

Cllr Jonny Crawshaw warned that many residents have asked for advice about collecting and binning face masks.

Ms Stoltz said: “We shouldn’t have discarded face masks in the city - I find it outrageous, quite frankly, that people would just drop their masks. They are a source of infection.

“I would advise against members of the public picking up face masks. They need to be handled carefully in accordance with infection prevention controls. I would advise members of the public to report discarded face masks to the council’s Covid-19 helpline.

“But my plea to residents and visitors to the city would be don’t drop them in the first place.”

It was revealed that York’s Covid marshals have already collected 735 discarded face masks and handed out 131 masks to people. They have also spoken to 580 groups of people and 622 businesses.

Ms Stoltz said: “The Covid marshals are doing a great deal of very valuable work.”

The plea came as Ms Stoltz shared concerns about the number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 but cannot be reached by the test and trace team.

She said the team has not been able to contact 256 people who tested positive for the virus: “A significant number of people that have tested positive, so they should be self-isolating, but we’re having difficulties in contacting those individuals either by phone or by a home visit. We’re talking of 256 individuals that we haven’t been able to either speak to or visit - that’s a cumulative number.

“Obviously that is a concern because if people have tested positive and they’re not socially isolating then that can spread the virus across York.”

The public health team will carry out more follow up visits in a bid to reach people who test positive.

Ms Stoltz updated councillors on the current response to the pandemic in the city.

Figures show that by February 4, more than 38,200 York residents had received the first dose of the Covid vaccination and 1,035 had received the second dose. Data shows almost all residents aged over 75 have had their first dose of the vaccine. And 52.9 per cent of people aged 70 to 74 have had the first dose.

Ms Stoltz reassured councillors that no cases of the South African variant of the virus have currently been reported in York. Two cases have been recorded in Scarborough but have been contained.

The city’s Covid rate is falling quickly, but the number of people seriously ill in York Hospital’s intensive care unit remains steady.