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 8^th June, 287,399 people have tested positive. As of 5pm on 8^th June, of those tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, across all settings, 40,597 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	622	250.6 per 100,000 resident
Mid Suffolk	182	177.6 per 100,000 resident
Babergh	152	166.3 per 100,000 resident
West Suffolk	234	130.8 per 100,000 resident
Suffolk	1,541	203.1     per 100,000 resident

 

• Government daily COVID-19 press conference-Health Secretary’s Briefing- 8^th June (transcript not available)
  • Taking into account all of the evidence, the estimate is that currently R is below one in all regions.
  • UK records its lowest daily rise in coronavirus deaths since before lockdown on 23 March

• Whole home testing rolled out to all care homes in England-Every single care home in England will now be offered a coronavirus test for all residents and staff, even if they have no symptoms
• Carers Week – Matt Hancock expressed thanks to “each and every carer, whether paid or unpaid, for all the work that they’re doing to support family and friends and loved ones”
• Archive of slides, datasets and transcripts to accompany coronavirus press conferences available here.

• Coronavirus and loneliness, Great Britain: 3 April 2020 to 3 May 2020- the Office of National Statistics has published an Analysis of loneliness in Great Britain during the coronavirus pandemic from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. It explores who is reporting feeling lonely, what their lived experience is and how they are coping.
• PPE production starts in Grimsby thanks to Austrian investment Austria-based Hygiene Austria are set to produce 10 million masks per month in Grimbsy in a project that will create around 60 new jobs in the next 3 months
• Teaching about mental wellbeing-The government have published a set of practical materials for primary and secondary schools to use to train staff about teaching mental wellbeing.
• BBC: The high proportion of pregnant women from black and ethnic minority (BAME) groups admitted to hospital with Covid-19 “needs urgent investigation”, the BBC has reported that a study in the British Medical Journal shows that there may be a higher risk of coronavirus in pregnant BAME women.
• BBC: Global Picture
  • More than 100,000 new cases have been reported in nine of the past 10 days – WHO chief
  • Lockdowns have saved more than three million lives in Europe, an Imperial College study estimates
  • Global economy tipped to contract by 5.2% this year – World Bank
  • Most people arriving in the UK have to quarantine for two weeks
  • New York City begins reopening, with as many as 400,000 people getting back to work

 

Suffolk

 

Test & Trace in Suffolk: SCC are currently bringing together organisations across Suffolk to plan and develop the local approach to the national NHS Test and Trace programme. Local organisations understand residents and are able to call on resources and assets to both prevent local outbreaks, and support local organisations, groups and individuals where outbreaks arise.  The tool for developing this response will be through Local Outbreak Management Plans which are required to be produced by 30^th June. These plans are required to include:

 

• Planning for local outbreaks in Care Homes and Schools
• Identifying and planning how to manage High risk places, locations and communities
• Ensuring local testing is accessible to the entire population
• Assessing Contact Tracing capability in complex settings
• Integrating national and local data and scenario planning
• Supporting Vulnerable people to get help to self-isolate and ensuring services meet the needs of diverse communities
• Establishing governance structures

The plans will identify and outline support for different settings e.g. workplaces, housing complexes, care homes, schools, groups e.g. rough sleepers and vulnerable individuals who may be most at risk from the coronavirus.  Focusing on both preventive actions and outbreak response.  The plan will also ensure testing capacity is deployed effectively, as well as helping the most vulnerable in self-isolation access essential services in their area. It will build on and strengthen existing relationship and processes already in place for these types of settings.

 

A key next step will be to set up two boards to support the delivery of our local approach and its assurance.  These include:

 

• An Officer-Led COVID-19 Health Protection Board, convened by the Director of Public Health which will represent a range of local partners, including District Councils, Public Health England, Police, NHS CCGs. This will bring together local experts and leaders to review data, agree plans and approaches and make recommendation on steps to contain the virus.
• A Member-Led Engagement Board which will focus on public engagement and assurance.

More information about coronavirus testing and the Test and Trace service in Suffolk can be found at www.suffolk.gov.uk/testing

Suffolk’s plan for more walking and cycling: Following the Government’s announcements on its conditional roadmap to reopen society after the COVID-19 lockdown, SCC has outlined its proposed plans for active travel improvements for walking and cycling in Suffolk. The interventions will ensure those people who need and want to make essential journeys and take daily exercise by foot or bike can do safely whilst maintaining social distancing. In line with the guidance, Suffolk County Council plans include closing off sections of roads to motorised vehicles, widening existing footpaths and cycle lanes, providing temporary footpaths and cycle lanes and changing traffic signal timings to reduce waiting times at puffin and toucan crossings. The Council has been allocated £337k from the Department of Transport, with the potential for further funding if the measures they put in place are successful. SCC are now seeking views on its proposals. For more information including details of the changes being considered click here

 

Lets stick with it Suffolk: Leader of the council, Cllr Matthew Hicks has written an article about the campaign Stick with it Suffolk and how our actions together in Suffolk continue to slow the spread of the virus in our response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Click here to read

Suffolk Libraries: Suffolk libraries is planning to reopen libraries in July. Current government guidance is that libraries must remain closed for now but can start to reopen from 4 July at the earliest as long as all the necessary precautions are followed. Planning is well under way for most library buildings to reopen during the week commencing Monday 6 July. Click here for more information.

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
	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
West Suffolk	13	61	12	78	17	113	20	115	19	82	17	73	11	51	10	26
Waveney	7	47	14	76	14	64	12	86	10	71	10	56	11	33	11	29
Total	50	265	69	363	85	436	79	417	67	352	57	265	53	203	48	165

 

 

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	06.06.20	Change from last week
Suffolk	163	11+	166	3+
Norfolk	118	8+	124	6+
Cambs+ Peterborough	121	14+	128	7+
Essex	220	9+	234	14+
Hertfordshire	258	7+	263	5+

 

 

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
NEW	Teaching about mental wellbeing	primary and secondary schools	Practical materials for primary and secondary schools to use to train staff about teaching mental wellbeing.
UPDATED	COVID-19: management of staff and exposed patients and residents in health and social care settings	management of staff, patients and residents who have been exposed to COVID-19.	Removed action for individuals with negative test result from ‘Symptomatic worker flowchart’
UPDATED	Apply for the coronavirus Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund	The Discretionary Grant Fund supports small and micro businesses	Eligibility points confirmed: your business should have ongoing fixed property-related costs, and occupy property (or part of a property) with a rateable value or annual mortgage/rent payments below £51,000.
UPDATED	Coronavirus (COVID-19): travellers exempt from border rules in the UK	This guidance explains who will be exempt from new border rules in the UK introduced due to coronavirus	Updated to include information on self-isolation in Scotland and Wales.
UPDATED	Coronavirus (COVID-19): information for farmers, landowners and rural businesses	latest information for farmers, landowners and rural businesses	Latest news updated to advise that Rural Payments helpline will be open on 13 and 14 June
UPDATED	COVID-19: personal protective equipment use for aerosol generating procedures	Guidance on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for aerosol generating procedures (AGPs).	Added video for donning and doffing PPE when using coveralls instead of gowns
UPDATED	MHRA guidance on coronavirus (COVID-19)	industry, healthcare professionals and patients covering the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.	Added link to the Medical Device Alert (MDA) on results from laboratory-based tests for COVID-19 antibodies using capillary blood sample collection kits may not be reliable.
UPDATED	Travel advice: coronavirus (COVID-19)	British Public	Updated as the new rules for entering the UK (providing contact details and self-isolating) come into force
1	NHS – COVID-19 go-to page	General Public	This page includes: latest NHS information and advice about coronavirus (COVID-19).
2	GOV.UK – COVID-19 homepage	Main cover webpage for all government guidance for public & professionals alike	Main cover webpage for both public and professionals containing the links to: National guidance News/Announcements Press conferences Statistics
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 140, 8 June

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