Current UK Risk Level: HIGH

The risk to the UK remains high (as of 13/03/2020).

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 9am on 7 June, 286,194 people have tested positive. As of 5pm on 6 June, of those tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, across all settings, 40,542 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	352	255.9 per 100,000 resident
East Suffolk	621	250.2 per 100,000 resident
Mid Suffolk	182	177.6 per 100,000 resident
Babergh	152	166.3 per 100,000 resident
West Suffolk	232	129.7 per 100,000 resident
Suffolk	1,539	202.9 per 100,000 resident

• Government daily COVID-19 press conference – The Government has now moved away from the seven-day schedule to a five-day schedule, so the weekend press conferences have been stopped (starting from 6 June). Archive of slides, datasets and transcripts to accompany coronavirus press conferences available here.
• Face masks and coverings to be worn by all NHS hospital staff and visitors – All staff in hospitals in England will be provided with surgical masks which they will be expected to wear from 15 June. All visitors and outpatients must wear face coverings at all times.
• Business Secretary launches working groups to help unleash Britain’s growth potential – 5 new business-focused groups to unleash Britain’s growth potential and create jobs, as part of the government’s plans to help the economy bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic. The 5 key themes cover: future of the industry, green recovery, new businesses, increasing opportunity, foreign investment.
• COVID-19 tests offered to every care home for elderly or those with dementia – Test kits have been offered to every care home for over-65s or those with dementia in England, reaching the testing target for 6 June.
• Places of worship to re-open for individual prayer – From Monday 15 June places of worship will be permitted to open for individual prayer in line with social distancing guidelines.
• Charities to benefit from support for rough sleepers during pandemic – Over 130 charities are set to benefit from £6m of government funding to allow them to continue their work supporting rough sleepers during the pandemic.
• New UK deals will bring millions more PPE items to frontline healthcare staff – Four more companies answer government’s call to arms to manufacture PPE. Millions more visors, aprons and gowns to be delivered over the next few months.
• The Health Foundation COVID-19 Survey: public attitudes towards a potential smartphone app to ‘track and trace’ Coronavirus outbreaks – Key insights from those surveyed include: 62% indicate they would be likely to download the app; 86% say they would self-isolate if the app advised them they had been in contact with an infected person; while 71% would be likely to use the app to report symptoms of coronavirus.
• Operation COVI-19: Why did Whitehall turn to Military Planners? – UK’s think tank Policy Exchange highlights some key elements of the military approach to planning and outlines proposals for future use in the Government response to similar crises.
• NHS At Home roll-out – Thousands of patients with cystic fibrosis and dozens recovering from coronavirus are being given devices and apps so that medics can monitor their condition remotely, as part of the NHS drive to give more people connected, supported, personalised care in their own homes.
• New rules requiring the majority of people arriving in the UK to self-isolate for 14 days have come into effect. Whether it’s by plane, ferry or train, arrivals – including UK nationals – will have to provide an address where they will stay and face fines of up to £1,000 if they don’t comply. There are some exceptions, such as road haulage workers, medical professionals providing essential care and arrivals from the Republic of Ireland.
• BBC: WHO advises to wear masks in public areas – The World Health Organization (WHO) has changed its advice on face masks, saying they should be worn in public where social distancing is not possible to help stop the spread of coronavirus. This is a big shift in the WHO’s guidance. For months, the organisation’s experts stuck to the line that masks would encourage a false sense of security and would deprive medical professionals of badly needed protective equipment.
• Bloomberg: New Zealand Eliminates Covid – New Zealand will remove social distancing requirements after reporting zero active cases of Covid-19, indicating it has achieved its aim of eliminating the virus.
• BBC: Global Picture

• • New Zealand is lifting all restrictions within the country after reporting it has no active coronavirus cases for the first time since 28 February. Only borders will remain closed.
  • New York City also begins opening up on Monday. The city was the centre of the US outbreak and many restrictions remain in place.
  • In Europe, daily deaths in Italy have dropped to 53, but infections in Russia continue to see a steep rise, with almost 9,000 new cases over the past day. Despite this, Russia continues to move ahead with its reopening. In Poland, a single coal mine has been found to be the source of hundreds of new cases.

 Suffolk 

Carers Week 2020: This week is Carers Week and Cllr Hofensperger, Cabinet Member for Adult Care has talked about carers in Suffolk are so important, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Click here to watch the video.

Financial advice: The Covid-19 has had an impact on many peoples finances so the Money Advice Service has published lots of useful advice and links to further help on its website. Click here

Redundancy support: The East Suffolk Council Youth Employment Service, which is delivered by Inspire Suffolk, are here to support young people aged 16-25 and local employers who may have to undertake the difficult process of redundancies, whether due to COVID-19 or not. They work alongside employers and their team of employment coaches support people through the redundancy process. In a time when employers may feel powerless to support the people they are needing to make redundant, the service can at least work collaboratively to ensure that these young people receive every support available to re-enter employment. For further information call 07590983297.

Health and Social Care Worker Support Line: It is an extremely challenging time for Health and Social Care Workers so the NSFT have set up a dedicated helpline where workers can talk to someone about their worries. They can call the staff support line on 0300 123 1335 – open seven days a week 2-5pm

New Anglia LEP Business Resilience and Recovery Scheme: The New Anglia LEP’s £3m Business Resilience and Recovery Scheme to help companies through Covid-19 has already committed more than £300k to projects. The LEP are welcoming applications from businesses across Norfolk and Suffolk. 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	Use of plasma donations to treat COVID-19: recommendations from SaBTO	Professionals	Recommendations from the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) on the use of convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19.
NEW	PPE portal: how to order emergency personal protective equipment	social care and primary care providers	Healthcare providers can order additional personal protective equipment (PPE) through the portal to top up their existing supplies for COVID-19 in an emergency.
NEW	Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey pilot: 5 June 2020	Professionals	Main points include: – At any given time between 17 May and 30 May 2020, we estimated that an average of 0.10% of the community population had COVID-19 (95% confidence interval: 0.05% to 0.18%); this equates to an average of 53,000 people in England (95% confidence interval: 25,000 to 99,000). – Individuals working outside the home show higher rates of positive tests than those who work from home. – Patient-facing healthcare workers and resident-facing social care workers show higher rates of positive tests than people not working in these roles.
NEW	Coronavirus and loneliness, Great Britain: 3 April 2020 to 3 May 2020	Professionals	Analysis of loneliness in Great Britain during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. Main points include: – 5.0% of people in Great Britain (2.6 million people) reported that they felt lonely “often” or “always” between 3 April and 3 May 2020, about the same proportion as pre-lockdown. – Both those feeling lonely “often or always” and in the past seven days had lower personal well-being scores including higher anxiety scores than the Great Britain average, but the effect was stronger among those feeling lonely “often or always”.
UPDATED	COVID-19: management of staff and exposed patients and residents in health and social care settings	health professionals	Updated flowcharts with information on self isolation for cases identified as contacts via the test and trace system.
UPDATED	Coronavirus (COVID-19): advice on accessing green spaces safely	everyone	Clarified guidance for zoos and other businesses that keep animals (not normally domesticated in England) for exhibition to the public.
UPDATED	How tests and testing kits for coronavirus (COVID-19) work	public, patients, professionals and industry	Added Target Product Profiles for Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA) Antibody tests to help determine if people have antibodies to SARS-CoV-2
UPDATED	Coronavirus (COVID-19): getting tested	everyone	Added information and link to book a courier collection for used testing kits in care homes. Replaced ‘guidance on Randox testing’ and ‘guidance on non-Randox testing’. Removed: ‘This testing is currently only available in England. At the moment, you can only get tests if your care home looks after older people or people with dementia.’
UPDATED	Coronavirus outbreak FAQs: what you can and can’t do	Everyone	From 15 June, you must wear a face covering on public transport.
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	The Heatwave Plan for England remains unchanged for summer 2020. Additional actions may be needed due to COVID-19 and specific resources are available below.
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 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.

 

Situation in Numbers WHO SitRep 139, 7 June