Current UK Risk Level: 3

On 19/06/2020 update from the UK Chief Medical Officers on the UK alert level confirmed that the UK COVID-19 alert level has been lowered from risk level 4 to risk level 3. It does not mean that the pandemic is over. The virus is still in general circulation, and localised outbreaks are likely to occur.

 

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

 

 

 

Current UK Situation

• As of 9am on 21 June, 304,331 people have tested positive. As of 5pm on 20 June, of those who tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, across all settings, 42,632 have died. (data here). 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	352	255.9 per 100,000 resident
East Suffolk	625	251.8 per 100,000 resident
Mid Suffolk	183	178.5 per 100,000 resident
Babergh	154	168.5 per 100,000 resident
West Suffolk	235	131.4 per 100,000 resident
Suffolk	1,549	204.2 per 100,000 resident

 *Please note numbers may go up or down as the reported data are continually checked and cleaned.

 

• The Government daily COVID-19 press conference – none over the weekend. Archive of press conference slides, datasets and transcripts available here.
• New saliva test for coronavirus piloted in Southampton – A weekly coronavirus (COVID-19) testing model using a new ‘no-swab’ saliva test is to be piloted in Southampton from this week (22 June). Over 14,000 GP staff, other essential key workers and university staff and their households will participate in the first phase of the trial.

• COVID-19 Regional R value and growth rates –  The government has published UK wide and regional COVID-19 infection growth rates for England for the first time, alongside R values. Growth rates provide us with different information to R estimates, by informing us of the size and speed of change, whereas R value only gives us information on the direction of change.

• Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain: 19 June 2020 – Indicators from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey covering the period 11 June to 14 June 2020. Main points include:
  • Over 9 in 10 adults (92%) in Great Britain have left their home this week – the same proportion as last week
  • Of those adults who said they were in employment, almost 8 in 10 (79%) said they had worked this week, an increase from 7 in 10 (70%) last week
  • 4 in 10 adults (40%) reported that they had used face coverings outside of their home in the past week, an increase on last week (30%).
  • Just over 1 in 5 (21%) adults with children of school age reported that they had been asked to send their children back to school. Two-thirds (67%) of these said that their children were now attending school some or all of the time.
• COVID-19 related mortality by religion, ethnicity and disability: England and Wales, 2 March 2020 to 15 May 2020 – A descriptive overview of deaths related to coronavirus (COVID-19) among people identifying by religion group, ethnic group and disability status. Main points include:
  • The highest age-standardised mortality rates of deaths involving COVID-19 were in the Muslim religious group with 198.9 deaths per 100,000 males and 98.2 deaths per 100,000 females; people who identified as Jewish, Hindu or Sikh also showed higher mortality rates than other groups.
  • Those who reported having “No religion” had the lowest rate of death involving COVID-19 with 80.7 deaths per 100,000 males and 47.9 deaths per 100,000 females.
  • Provisional analysis shows that the mortality rate for deaths involving COVID-19 was highest among Black ethnic background. After adjusting for region, population density, socio-demographic and household characteristics, the raised risk of death involving COVID-19 for people of Black ethnic background of all ages together was 2.0 times greater for males and 1.4 times greater for females compared with those of White ethnic background.
  • Males of Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian ethnic background also had a significantly higher risk of death involving COVID-19 (1.5 and 1.6 times, respectively) than White males once region, population density, socio-demographic and household characteristics were accounted for; whilst for females in Bangladeshi or Pakistani, Indian, Chinese and Mixed ethnic groups the risk of death involving COVID-19 was equivalent to White females.
• Government provides further halt to business evictions and more support for high street firms – The UK government will extend measures to prevent high street businesses facing eviction over summer.
• NHS Confederation member briefing: Public Health England review on the impact of COVID-19 on BAME communities – The report is a descriptive summary of stakeholder insights into the factors that could be influencing the impact of COVID-19 on BAME communities.
• BBC: Boris Johnson will discuss the next steps in relaxing lockdown in England with senior scientific advisers and ministers later today. He’ll set them out for the public on Tuesday. The expectation is that he’ll confirms pubs, restaurants, hotels and hairdressers can start reopening on 4 July. It looks likely, too, that the two-metre social distancing rule will be reduced.
• BBC: What is a second wave and is one coming? – For a second wave to start you would need a sustained rise in infections. New Zealand, which has its first cases after 24 days without  coronavirus, and Beijing which is facing an outbreak after 50 virus-free days are not in this position. But some scientists argue Iran may be starting to meet the criteria for a second wave. Lifting lockdown restrictions too far could trigger this. That is why measures are being lifted in stages and new ways of controlling coronavirus are being introduced, such as contact tracing or face-coverings.
• Request to the National Academy of Science for the retraction of ZHANG ET AL., 2020 – A group of academics (including from Stanford and John Hopkins universities) express deep concerns about a recently published study “Identifying airborne transmission as the dominant route for the spread of COVID-19.” They’re concerned that the paper made extraordinary claims about routes of transmission, the effectiveness of mask-wearing, and by implication, the ineffectiveness of other non-pharmaceutical interventions.
• Global picture
  • The COVID Racial Data Tracker – The COVID Racial Data Tracker is a collaboration between the COVID Tracking Project and the Antiracist Research & Policy Center. This gathers race and ethnicity data on COVID-19 in the United States.
  • NPR: As States Reopen, Do They Have The Workforce They Need To Stop Coronavirus Outbreaks? – NPR reporters investigate the readiness of each state.
  • USA Today: How to lessen the risk of summer activities amid COVID-19 – Recommendations include keeping physical distance, waring face mask, always bringing hand sanitizer, keeping gatherings small and short, not sharing utensils.

 

Suffolk

 

Concessionary travel arrangements to return to normal: In March the arrangements around concessionary fares were relaxed to allow those with concessionary passes to travel on buses for free before 9:30am. From Monday 6th July concessionary bus passes in Suffolk will return to their usual arrangements and will be valid Monday to Fridays 9.30am to 11pm, and all day on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays, this is to help bus companies manage social distancing. For more information click here

 

UK Armed Forces Week: This week is UK Armed Forces Week and we would like to say a big thank you to our Suffolk based UK Armed Forces that provide National Security and more recently supporting public services and communities in response to Covid 19 pandemic.

 

New tool to help businesses identify whether businesses can reopen safely during coronavirus: The UK Government has developed a tool to help businesses in England to reopen safely during coronavirus. This tool encourages businesses to carry out a risk assessment and helps to identify the workplace adjustments that they should make. Employers have the legal responsibility to protect their employees and other people on site, such as customers and visitors. This tool will help businesses to easily find out what they should do. Employees can also use this tool to check what their workplace needs to do to keep people safe. The tool can be found here.

 

Honours: Nominate someone for coronavirus-related work: You can nominate someone who has made an exceptional contribution to the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis in the UK. Anyone can make a nomination and the deadline is Friday 26th June 2020. Nominations will be considered by an independent honours committee.You can download and fill in the honours nomination form and email it to the Honours and Appointments Secretariat Covid-19nominations@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

 

Help and support if your business is affected by coronavirus (COVID-19): Watch videos and register for the free webinars to learn more about the support available to help businesses deal with the economic impacts of coronavirus.  UK Government’s YouTube video about how to make a Self-Employment Income Support Scheme claim has been updated. Find more information here.

Life after lockdown webinar: Join the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce on their webinar to discuss how to prepare work, and your workers, for life after lockdown. Hear from key business experts who will share their views on HR, Health and Safety, and Mental Health and Wellbeing, to help your business get back to work. For more information click here

 

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
NEW	Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker	Professionals	The tracker compares worldwide government responses to the coronavirus rigorously and consistently. The Oxford team collects information on common policy responses, scores the stringency of such measures, and aggregates these into a Stringency Index.   As of 18 June, UK’s stringency level is 73.15 (many restrictions). For comparison, New Zealand’s stringency level is 19.44 (few restrictions) and Cuba’s is 100 (many restrictions, including total stay at home confinement and all but essential workplace closing).
NEW	Steps to take following the death of a person who worked in adult social care in England	local authorities and social care providers	This guidance sets out what employers need to do if a worker or volunteer dies and includes resources about bereavement.
UPDATED	Coronavirus (COVID-19): admission and care of people in care homes	Care home sector	This document has been updated throughout in line with the care homes support package announced on 15 May and the latest advice on testing, and infection prevention and control. It includes additional information on Health Protection Team engagement and advice on admission during an outbreak
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 153, 21 June