A NEW committee may be launched to ensure York has learnt the lessons of Covid and is ready to respond if another pandemic hits the city.

York's director of public health, Sharon Stoltz, is recommending the establishment of a York Health Protection Committee with responsibility for ensuring the city has the necessary plans in place to respond to large scale events such as future pandemics.

The committee would also ensure York is ready for other disease outbreaks and the health impacts of adverse weather events.

The recommendation comes in her annual report, which focuses on the pandemic and its effects on York, from the date when the UK’s first case was identified in York - at the StayCity aparthotel next to York Barbican - through to the present.

She says that on January 30, 2020, the York Press reported that guests staying in Stay City Hotel had been taken to hospital with symptoms of coronavirus and, at 2pm, she remembered vividly receiving a call from Public Health England informing her that the first UK Covid-19 cases had been identified in York.

“From that moment on, everyone involved offered blood, toil, tears and sweat, going above and beyond in their service to our city in one of its darkest moments," she says.

"In York we had to deal with it first, acting as a Wayfinder for the rest of the UK in terms of the public health, partnership and communications responses."

On January 31, the council set out the work by partners in supporting infection control and the outbreak management approach.

She recommends that Public Health should seek to build on the city-wide partnership working relationships developed during the response to the pandemic and lead the development of a York strategy for ‘Living with Covid’ to be recommended for adoption by all city partners. 

She also writes of the wider impacts of the pandemic on the health behaviour of some residents. 

"Alcohol consumption has increased, the numbers of people reaching recommended levels of physical activity have gone down and many people are finding they are struggling with their mental health and extra weight gained during lockdowns," she says.

"It is recommended that the council’s Public Health team continue to lead an evidence based approach to tackling these issues across the city working with individuals, families, communities and our partners."

Ms Stoltz says York has 'suffered hugely' over the last two years from the pandemic.

"At the time of writing, COVID-19 has taken the lives of 476 York residents and left many others with long term symptoms and illness, while the consequences of lockdown have affected mental health and have had massive economic and social implications which will take a generation to recover from.

"I want to use this opportunity to express my condolences and sympathies to all those whose lives have been affected by what has unfolded over the last two years."