Yorkshire's Nightingale hospital put on standby with Sheffield the worst-hit area of region

A 500-bed capacity facility in the Harrogate Convention Centre opened in April but has been used for clinical CT scans since June as the number of people requiring hospital treatment fell over summer.

But, with case rates in Yorkshire and the Humber among the highest in England, according to the latest data from Public Health England, it could be brought back into use.

NHS England’s Professor Stephen Powis said: “We have asked the Nightingale hospitals in Manchester, Sunderland and Harrogate to prepare for this next phase.

“They are being asked to mobilise over the next few weeks to be ready to accept patients if necessary.”

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It will be for local clinicians to decide whether they are used for Covid patients or to provide extra capacity to maintain services for people without coronavirus.

Sheffield currently has the highest infection rate in Yorkshire, with Sheffield 439 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to 8 October, up from 263 the week before. The average area in England had 79.

The next worst-affected area in the region is Leeds, where it is currently illegal to meet other households. There were 381 cases per 100,000 people across the same period.

There are seven Nightingale hospitals across England in Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter, Harrogate, Manchester, London and Sunderland.

On Monday morning, England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said there had clearly been a “marked pick-up” in coronavirus cases, which would result in more deaths.