Current UK Risk Level : HIGH
The risk to the UK has been raised to high (as of 13/03/2020).
As of 13 Mar, UK is in the âdelayâ phase of the governmentâs action plan to limit the spread of the virus.
Current UK Situation
- As of 10:54pm on 29 April, 165,221 people have tested positive and 26,097 people have died. In Suffolk there are 999 confirmed cases. Please note that figures now include deaths from all settings, but this does not indicate a sudden one day increase. You can view the latest UK dashboard and cases by local authority here.
- Governmentâs daily press conference (29 April 2020) â transcript available here
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- We continue to see evidence in the data of a flattening of the peak of the virus.
- This issue of a second spike and the need to avoid it â itâs not a theoretical risk, and it is not confined to the UK. Having relaxed restrictions in Germany over the past week, they have seen a rise in the transmission rate of coronavirus. Chancellor Merkel has made it clear that they might need a second lockdown if the infection rate continues to rise.
- UK will provide GAVI the international vaccine alliance with the equivalent of £330 million each year over the next 5 years as we seek to develop a vaccine
- Press conference slides with the latest data from COBR coronavirus fact file (transport use, new cases, hospital admissions, deaths) and datasets available here.
- View past press conferences on YouTube
- Home testing programme for coronavirus will track levels of infection in the community – 100,000 randomly selected people from 315 local authorities across England will be invited to provide nose and throat swabs to determine if they are currently infected.
- Imperial College London: Home testing for coronavirus to track levels of infection in the community – Imperial College London is to lead a major programme of home testing for COVID-19 to track the progress of the infection across England.
- Repatriation during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic – For those British people who have chosen to remain in place or are still trying to get home, our consular teams are providing support 24 hours a day. We are making sure British travellers have access to essential care, including food and accommodation, as well as medical care, this also includes psychosocial support. We are also helping vulnerable countries with their response to coronavirus by announcing up to £744m in aid, including for R&D and support to the World Health Organisation, UN agencies, NGOs and the Red Cross.
- BBC: PM to update UK today on ‘steps to defeat’ coronavirus â PM will chair a cabinet meeting later and then lead the daily coronavirus briefing for the first time since his return to work.
- BBC: how contact tracing works, whether you have to take part and what happens to your data. The UK is planning to roll out its contact tracing app and phone team by the middle of May, in the hope that weeks of social distancing will have made new outbreaks easier to track.
- BBC: US officials say there is “clear-cut” evidence that the drug remdesivir can help people recover after worldwide trials saw it cut the duration of symptoms (from 15 days down to 11). They warn, however, it is no “magic bullet”. The impact on deaths is not as clear cut as it was not statistically significant between the people receiving remdesivir and those receiving placebo. Remdesivir was originally developed as an Ebola treatment. It is an antiviral and works by attacking an enzyme that a virus needs in order to replicate inside our cells.
Suffolk
Ipswich Testing centre: As of the 29 April 2020 the drive through testing station in Ipswich at London Road Park & Ride has tested approximately 3,000 people. This is on average, 600 people per day. This facility was established to test key workers however, this has since changed. Testing will soon be made available to the Governmentâs wider list of eligible people, those who have to leave home to go to work or are aged 65 or over, that meet the criteria i.e. they would need to get tested within 1-5 days of showing symptoms. The government has also announced that NHS staff, care home staff and care home residents will be eligible for testing whether or not they have symptoms. This means the amount of people tested each day will dramatically increase.
Thank you to Parish and Town Councils: Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Local Government and Communities, has written an open letter to town and parish councils thanking them for their work supporting communities during this pandemic. To read the letter click here
Healthwatch wellbeing survey: Healthwatch Suffolk have launched a survey for young people and their families to understand more about how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted on them. The short survey is called âMy Health, Our Future â At homeâ. There are two short surveys, one for young people (aged 11 â 19 or up to 25 for young people with Special Educational Needs) and one for parents or guardians. For more information visit; https://healthwatchsuffolk.co.uk/mhofathome/
Suffolk Wellbeing service resources: Suffolk Wellbeing Service are offering a series or regular free webinars exploring how we can all look after our mental health and emotional wellbeing in these challenging times. The session will cover various hints and tips to help attendees look after their understandable worries, stress and low mood during what is a particularly challenging time. This is a live online presentation, where attendees log in on your computer, phone or tablet. A clinician will present the workshop via webcam. For more information on this and other resources available please visit; www.wellbeingnands.co.uk/suffolk/get-support/courses/
Clap for Carers: It is Thursday once again so please donât forget to #ClapforCarers tonight at 8pm and to praise the NHS. Our local hospitals have asked that people please donât go to hospital to clap but stay at home and clap from doorsteps. It is absolutely right that we show the NHS our support and appreciation for all their tireless work but it is also worth remembering our other unsung heroes; care workers, social workers, family carers, foster carers, to name a few, during this show of appreciation.. These incredible people are showing great strength and dedication to others and are often doing this quietly in the background, just getting on and doing what needs to be done. Each and every one of them deserves to feel the support of the rest of the nation, so please try to think of them while we applaud our brilliant NHS this evening.
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.
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Title |
Who For |
Comments |
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NEW |
PHE data series on deaths in people with COVID-19: technical summary |
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Summary of the PHE data series on deaths in people with COVID-19, outlining what the changes mean and how the data compare to other COVID-19 death data series. |
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NEW |
Seasonal farm workers |
The type of seasonal work you can do on farms, who can apply, and where you can find work. |
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NEW |
Coronavirus (COVID-19): Accessing food and essential supplies |
Everyone |
How to get food and other essential supplies during the coronavirus pandemic, covering: – If youâre clinically extremely vulnerable – If you cannot go out because youâre clinically extremely vulnerable, self isolating or for any other reason – If youâre not clinically vulnerable or self isolating |
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NEW |
COVID-19: number of outbreaks in care homes â management information |
Care home management |
Weekly number and percentage of care homes reporting a suspected or confirmed outbreak of COVID-19 to PHE by local authorities, regions and PHE centres. |
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1 |
General Public â this is the only site we should be promoting to the public for information |
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2 |
Main cover webpage for all government guidance for public & professionals alike |
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3 |
Main collection of guidance for anyone in any setting |
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4 |
Everyone |
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5 |
Everyone |
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6 |
Everyone |
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7 |
Mental health support and advice from: |
General public, staff and carers |
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8 |
Chronic disease self- care during COVID-19: |
General public |
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9 |
critical workers who are self-isolating |
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10 |
Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance for children’s social care services |
local authorities and their partners |
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11 |
social care |
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12 |
bereaved families, friends or next of kin |
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13 |
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) COVID-19 homepage |
Professionals |
risk assessments, public health guidance, and advice on response activities to EU Member States and the EU Commission. Contains wealth of information from a European perspective. |
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14 |
Everyone |
This report compares Suffolk to the average of All English county local authorities and all English single tier and county councils using daily data on the number of hospital cases of COVID-19 in the area. |
Local Resources:
Below are any local resources that would be relevant to Suffolk County Council and our partners.
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Title |
Who For |
Comments |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Everyone |
This page contains links to a wealth of resources and support for your health and wellbeing. |
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Everyone |
Suffolk County Council coronavirus (COVID-19) information, including health advice, service changes, business support and schools guidance. |
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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 â reports available here
- WHO RISK ASSESSMENT (Global Level) – Very High
- 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.
- COVID-19 exposes the critical importance of patient rehabilitation. Read more here.
- Globally, the number of total confirmed cases has exceeded 3 million.
Situation in Numbers WHO SitRep 100, 29 April (new since last 24hrs)
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Location |
Confirmed |
Deaths |
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Globally |
3 018 681 confirmed (66 005) |
207 973 deaths (5376) |
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European Region |
1 406 899 confirmed (21 750) |
129 311 deaths (2882) |
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Regions of the Americas |
1 213 088 confirmed (33 481) |
62 404 deaths (2193) |
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Eastern Mediterranean Region |
176 928 confirmed (5690) |
7304 deaths (156) |
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Western Pacific Region |
146 449 confirmed (1064) |
6037 deaths (39) |
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South-East Asia |
51 351 confirmed (3003) |
2001 deaths (84) |
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African Region |
23 254 confirmed (1017) |
903 deaths (22) |