Current UK Risk Level: HIGH

 

The risk to the UK remains high (as of 16/03/2020).

 

As of week commencing 11/05/2020, we’re moving into Phase two (Smarter controls) of the Government’s recovery strategy. As per PM’s 11 May message, the country is in the process of moving from Level 4 to Level 3 by the new COVID Alert System and taking the first step in relaxing lockdown measures – According to the PM’s statement “Thanks to the hard work and sacrifices of the British people in this lockdown, we have helped to bring the R level down and we are now in a position to begin moving to Level 3, in steps”.

 

Please note the Government’s messaging is now  â€˜stay alert, control the virus, save lives’ (previously ‘stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives’)

 

Current UK Situation

• As of 4:32pm on 15 June, 296,857 people have tested positive. As of 4:32pm on 15 June, of those who tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, across all settings, 41,736 have died. You can view the latest UK dashboard and cases by local authority here. Confirmed cases in Suffolk are broken down by Districts & Boroughs as follows:

 

Ipswich	351	255.2 per 100,000 resident
East Suffolk	623	251.0 per 100,000 resident
Mid Suffolk	183	178.5 per 100,000 resident
Babergh	153	167.4 per 100,000 resident
West Suffolk	235	131.4 per 100,000 resident
Suffolk	1,545	203.8 per 100,000 resident

 

• The Government daily COVID-19 press conference on 15^th June 2020 was given by the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab. The speech highlighted that the incidence of corona virus is going down. A total of 6, 866, 481 tests for coronavirus had been carried out or posted out. As such the Government would continue to press ahead with the 11^th May Roadmap.

• As of Saturday individuals are able to attend prayer at places of worship.
• Since the weekend single-adult households have been allowed to form ‘support bubbles’ with one other household
• On the 15^th May, shops selling non-essential goods were allowed to reopen. Attractions, where people may stay in cars, such as safari parks and drive-in cinemas, have also been allowed to reopen. People should continue to practice social distancing as we monitor effects of easing.
• Starting Monday 15^th June, it has become mandatory to wear a face covering while on public transport and any place where social distancing rules cannot be properly adhered to.

• Archive of slides, datasets and transcripts to accompany coronavirus press conferences available here.

• Face covering clarification for children – gov.uk news story from 12 June on mandatory face coverings on public transport states that children under the age of 11 are exempt.  Meanwhile, Staying safe outside your home guidance states that face coverings should not be used by children under the age of 3 or those who may find it difficult to manage them correctly (for example, primary age children unassisted, or those with respiratory conditions). Public Health Suffolk has clarified with PHE that children under the age of 3 should not wear face coverings. Children aged 3-11 should if they can, but this will not be enforced on public transport. Over 11’s should (if they don’t have health conditions that may make it difficult to manage), but in reality this is unlikely to be stringently enforced due to practical barriers such as identification of 11 year olds. There is no requirement to carry proof of age in the current guidance. Guidance may change as new data comes on any enforcement issues.

• Coronavirus: Restaurant bosses in plea to PM for help. In a letter to Boris Johnson, 90 firms have said that if social distancing remains they will need government support e.g. with tax, rents, other support.
• Free internet to help poorer pupils study online. Free internet access is being offered for six months to help some disadvantaged youngsters study online. The scheme will provide 10,000 families in England with vouchers for internet access, funded by BT and distributed by the Department for Education. The scheme between BT and the Department for Education will give vouchers for free access to five million wi-fi hotspots. Local authorities and academies will be asked to bid for vouchers for families in their schools without internet access or who cannot afford data and the Department for Education will decide the allocations.
• Conflicting statements by Spanish officials have sparked confusion over the country’s rules for UK travellers. Spanish officials said on Monday that travellers from the UK would not have to quarantine on arrival from Sunday. But Spain’s foreign affairs minister then said the country may impose a two-week quarantine on Britons, if the UK maintains its current travel rules. The UK Foreign Office is however still warning against all but essential international travel.

 

BBC: Global picture:

• • New Zealand’s first COVID-19 cases in 24 days came from UK. New Zealand has confirmed two new cases of coronavirus, ending a 24-day streak of no new infections in the country. The cases relate to two women from the same family, both of whom had travelled from the UK and were given special permission to visit a grieving parent.
  • US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) withdraws Emergency use of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus.
  • Attendees at Donald Trump’s election rally in Tulsa next week are asked to sign a waiver over the coronavirus, they are asked to promise they will not sue the president or organisers if they catch the virus by attending
  • Latin America has now recorded more than 1.5 million virus cases and 70,000 deaths
  • There have been 7.5 million cases worldwide and more than 420,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University

Suffolk

 

Test and Trace: In this week’s Column, Councillor James Reeder, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Prevention and Councillor Richard Rout, Cabinet Member for Environment and Public Protection talk about the NHS Test and Trace service which has now been running for a couple of weeks. Click here to read more.

Covid-19 Scams: Suffolk Trading Standards are warning people to be scam aware during Scams Awareness fortnight. Criminals are taking advantage of the current pandemic to scam people out of their money. For more information click here

West Suffolk Unemployment training: Covid-19 has led to the largest rise in unemployment. West Suffolk College have set up a fully funded online course to help unemployed access training. The first start dates are: Monday 6 July 2020 Monday 20 July 2020 To register click here

Coronavirus cases within care home settings: SCC will be reporting weekly on the number of suspected or confirmed cases within Suffolk care home settings, that Suffolk County Council has been made aware of.  Below is a table showing the number of providers affected and the number of suspected and confirmed cases since reporting began on 21/04/2020. These figures are listed on area basis and will not include the details of any specific care homes. These figures include care homes, extra care housing and supported housing. As a notifiable disease, care homes are required to report any potential or confirmed cases of Coronavirus to Public Health England (PHE) in order that this can be captured as part of the national reporting processes and also for PHE to provide advice and guidance on infection control. Care providers are under no obligation to report suspected or confirmed cases to the county council.

 

	21/04/2020		28/04/2020		05/05/2020		12/05/2020		19/05/2020		26/05/2020		02/06/2020		09/06/2020		16/06/2020
	Providers affected	Suspected and confirmed Cases	Providers affected	Suspected and confirmed Cases	Providers affected	Suspected and confirmed Cases	Providers affected	Suspected and confirmed cases	Providers affected	Suspected and confirmed cases	Providers affected	Suspected and confirmed cases	Providers affected	Suspected and confirmed cases	Providers affected	Suspected and confirmed cases	Providers affected	Suspected and confirmed cases
Ipswich and East Suffolk	30	157	43	209	54	259	47	216	38	199	30	136	31	119	27	110	22	70
West Suffolk	13	61	12	78	17	113	20	115	19	82	17	73	11	51	10	26	9	15
Waveney	7	47	14	76	14	64	12	86	10	71	10	56	11	33	11	29	7	24
Total	50	265	69	363	85	436	79	417	67	352	57	265	53	203	48	165	38	109

 

 

The below data is sourced from the ONS data set for the number of deaths in care homes involving COVID-19 by date of notification to the Care Quality Commission, Local Authorities in England.

 

Number of deaths involving COVID-19 occurring in care homes during the period 10 April – 29 May 2020.
	29.05.20	Change from last week	05.06.20	Change from last week	12.06.20	Change from last week
Suffolk	163	11+	166	3+	171	5+
Norfolk	118	8+	124	6+	131	7+
Cambs+ Peterborough	121	14+	128	7+	134	6+
Essex	220	9+	234	14+	240	6+
Hertfordshire	258	7+	263	5+	266	3+

 

 

In Suffolk we are continuing to see a higher percentage of Covid-19 related deaths within care homes compared to some other areas. The reasons for this are complex, but factors we think are contributing to this are more people choosing to die in their usual place of residence and the high number of nursing beds that we have within care homes. These provide care for people with complex care needs who may be coming towards the end of their life and in Suffolk we have very good practices for providing end of life care.

 

What we are seeing is while Suffolk has a higher percentage of Covid-19 related deaths within care homes compared with some other areas, we also have a lower percentage of Covid-19 related deaths within hospitals than some other areas.

 

Dying within a care home setting is often reflective of a person’s wish to remain in their usual place of residence, in comfortable surroundings with people around them who are familiar, as opposed to being within a hospital setting.

 

Suffolk’s care homes continue to care for residents with the utmost professionalism and kindness. They are following national guidance regarding social distancing, hygiene standards and the correct use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Testing is available for all care homes, for the entire home including staff and residents who are not displaying any symptoms. With more testing taking place, infection control and prevention measures can be more effective.

 

Useful Websites (any new guidance is in RED)

The existing guidance is being updated extremely regularly so please check any guidance relevant to your area to ensure that you are accessing the most up to date version. We are not including in this table all the published material but some of the key guidance that would be relevant to Suffolk County Council and our partners.

 

 

	Title	Who For	Comments
UPDATED	NHS test and trace: workplace guidance	Employers and employees	Guidance on the NHS test and trace service for employers, businesses and workers. Updated the guidance for employers about multiple coronavirus outbreaks in the workplace.
UPDATED	Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19)	employers, employees and the self-employed	Vehicles – Updated to reflect industry feedback, removal of coverage of taxis as superseded by additional guidance issued by Department for Transport, guidance on test and trace service, guidance on safer travel and to provide guidance on managing security risks.
UPDATED	Coronavirus: theory tests	Critical worker	Theory tests are currently suspended to 3 July 2020 due to coronavirus – but you can apply for an emergency theory test if you’re a critical worker. Updated to confirm that theory tests are currently suspended up to and including 3 July 2020.
UPDATED	Coronavirus: driving tests	Critical worker	Driving tests are currently suspended due to coronavirus – but you can apply for an emergency test if you’re a critical worker. Updated to confirm that driving tests are still suspended, and that rescheduled dates given for car driving tests will not go ahead – you will be asked to go online and choose a suitable date and time when driving tests can restart
UPDATED	Closing certain businesses and venues in England	For business, business representative organisations, regulators and academics	This document provides guidance on the closure of certain businesses and venues as part of further social distancing measures.
UPDATED	COVID-19: how to work safely in domiciliary care in England	Domiciliary workers	Updated ‘Personal protective equipment (PPE): a resource for care workers delivering homecare (domiciliary care) in England’ document to provide important updates as set out on page 2
UPDATED	Personal protective equipment (PPE) – resource for care workers working in care homes during sustained COVID-19 transmission in England	Care home and care workers	Addition of Section 3 relating to care for people with learning disabilities and/or autism. Further details added to recommendations including specification of surgical mask types  (defined in consultation with HSE and MHRA)
1	NHS – COVID-19 go-to page	General Public
2	GOV.UK – COVID-19 homepage	Main cover webpage for all government guidance for public & professionals alike
3	Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance	Main collection of guidance for anyone in any setting	Guidance includes: – Guidance for the public (incl. social distancing and shielding) – Guidance for non-clinical settings (incl. cleaning, educational settings, employees, employers, businesses, residential care, supported living and home care) – Guidance for health professionals – Infection prevention and control (incl. PPE) – Sampling and diagnostics
4	Heatwave Plan for England	Professionals
5	Mental health support and advice from: WHO mentalhealth.org.uk Ipswich & East CCG Living Life To The Full NHS Practitioner Wellbeing Samaritans	General public, staff and carers
6	Chronic disease self- care during COVID-19: Asthma Diabetes	General public
7	European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) COVID-19 homepage	Professionals

 

Local Resources:

Below are any local resources that would be relevant to Suffolk County Council and our partners.  

 

	Title	Who For	Comments
	Support from the Suffolk Growth Programme Board (SGPB)	Everyone	SGPB is a partnership of all Suffolk local authorities, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, University of Suffolk and New Anglia LEP. In Suffolk our Economy & business recovery work for COVID- 19 is being led by SGPB and the website includes links to funding / surveys / economic impact work. Please do pass this information on to your contacts.
	Suffolk Domestic Abuse 24/7 Helpline – Freephone 0800 977 5690	Everyone	The freephone number is live from 9am on Friday 22nd May 2020 for anyone with concerns including professionals who may be supporting clients as well as friends and family members who are concerned for loved ones.
	New Anglia: Employment Opportunities in Key Sectors in Norfolk and Suffolk	Individuals and Businesses wanting to know what employment opportunities are available in some of our key sectors	The New Anglia LEP – alongside other partners including local authorities – have pulled together lists and links to key employment roles needed now as part of the response to the current crisis.
	Suffolk Safeguarding Partnership	Everyone	The website aims to help everyone understand the signs of neglect or abuse and what to do if they are worried about a child or an adult.
	NEW ANGLIA GROWTH HUB	Businesses needing support ­	A one stop shop source of information for government support and guidance available to  businesses including 121 business advice sources of business grants and loans.
	Healthy Suffolk: COVID-19 Emotional Wellbeing, Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Information Hub	Everyone	This page contains links to a wealth of resources and support for your health and wellbeing.
	Suffolk County Council: Coronavirus information	Everyone	Suffolk County Council coronavirus (COVID-19) information, including health advice, service changes, business support and schools guidance.
	Keep Moving Suffolk	Everyone	The website contains free resources, ideas, tips, useful links and positive stories to encourage people to stay active during these unprecedented times.  The website and our social channels will be constantly updated.

 

 

Global: WHO Situation Report – reports available here

• WHO Covid-19 Dashboard for professionals using near real time data.
• GOARN COVID-19 Knowledge hub – central repository of quality public health information, guidance, tools and webinars which can be accessed freely at any point.

 

Situation in Numbers WHO SitRep 147, 15 June