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 ‘delay’ phase of the government’s action plan to limit the spread of the virus.

 

Current UK Situation

• As of 9am on 4 May, 945,299 people have been tested, of whom 190,584 tested positive. As of 5pm on 3 May, of those tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, 28,734 have died (in all settings not just in hospitals).  In Suffolk there are 1,125 confirmed cases. You can view the latest UK dashboard and cases by local authority here. 
• Government’s Daily Press Conference: 4 May – as of 10AM, official transcript not available. Unofficial transcript available here.

• • Pilot testing & tracing program launched on the Isle of Wight starting with health professionals and rolling out this week to all citizens (more detail here). The aim of test, track and trace is to hunt down and isolate the virus so it’s unable to reproduce.
  • This trial does not mean the end of social distancing on the Isle of Wight or anywhere else. We will only change the social distancing rules once our five tests are met.
  • 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

• Tax credits customers will continue to receive payments even if working fewer hours due to COVID-19 – People who can’t work their normal hours because of coronavirus (COVID-19) will still receive their usual tax credits payments.
• Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health: Paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome temporally associated with COVID-19 – Most children are asymptomatic or exhibit mild symptoms from COVID-19 infection. However, in the last two months a small number of children have been identified who develop a significant systemic inflammatory response.
• ‘Video-Call The Midwife’: NHS Carries On Delivering – there has been a rapid uptake of video consultations and online clinics to allow expectant families to keep in touch with their midwives, but ensuring that women attend essential face to face visits.
• BBC: the government is now paying the wages for nearly a quarter of UK jobs, under the job retention, or furlough, scheme.
• BBC: Germany has become the latest country to relax its lockdown, prompting a rush for haircuts. But it’s not business as usual – no waiting area, no magazines, no dry cuts, and face masks for both customer and hairdresser.

 

Suffolk

 

Mobile testing units: More and more locations across Suffolk are seeing visits from mobile testing units, to test eligible people for Covid-19. The mobile testing units are being mobilised by the Ministry of Defence and are enabling more people to be tested across Suffolk. These are particularly useful for those who cannot easily access the testing facility at Copdock. For more information visit; www.suffolk.gov.uk/testing 

Update on the help available for the most needy and vulnerable in Suffolk; Hear from Leader of the Council, Councillor Matthew Hicks about the work being done in Suffolk to support our vulnerable residents via the Home, But Not Alone emergency phoneline (0800 876 6926). Read the article 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 cumulative and 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
	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
West Suffolk	13	61	12	78	17	113
Waveney	7	47	14	76	14	64
Total	50	265	69	363	85	436

 

The Women’s Tour: The Women’s Tour cycle race, have confirmed that the seventh edition of the UCI Women’s WorldTour event will now take place in June 2021, following the postponement of the 2020 race in mid-March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As planned for June this year, the 2021 Women’s Tour will begin in Bicester, Oxfordshire and finish with a sixth and final stage in Suffolk, between Haverhill and Felixstowe. Organisers have applied to the UCI for dates from Monday 7 to Saturday 12 June 2021 with final confirmation of the dates and the 2021 UCI Women’s WorldTour calendar due in the coming months.

Self Employment Income Support Scheme: HMRC has announced that it is starting to contact people who may be eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme. From yesterday, HM Revenue & Customs will begin contacting customers who may be eligible for the government scheme. Those who are eligible will be able to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of their average trading profits up to a maximum of £7,500 (equivalent to three months’ profits), paid in a single instalment. Click here for more information.

Webinars to boost support for SME’s: The Department for International Trade are hosting a series of coronavirus webinars, free for SMEs across the UK. Many webinars will be hosted by an International Trade Adviser and include question and answer sessions, while others will feature guest speakers from business and industry. Topics covered will range from managing distribution of supply chains and the movement of goods, to support for selling online overseas. 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	Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE): Coronavirus (COVID-19) response – participants	Professionals	List of participants of SAGE and related sub-groups.
UPDATED	Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance for schools and other educational settings	staff, parents and carers, pupils and students.	Information for HE providers on the government support package available for universities and students, the process for clearing and student numbers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
UPDATED	Social distancing in the workplace during coronavirus (COVID-19): sector guidance	Employers	Updated guidance for working in people’s homes as a tradesperson, cleaner or nanny: – assess whether the visit is essential or if the work can be safely postponed. – you can continue work, providing that you are well and have no symptoms.
1	NHS – COVID-19 go-to page	General Public – this is the only site we should be promoting to the public for information
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 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	Staying at home and away from others (social distancing)	Everyone
5	Coronavirus outbreak FAQs: what you can and can’t do	Everyone
6	Coronavirus: How to help safely	Everyone
7	Coronavirus (COVID-19): Accessing food and essential supplies	Everyone
8	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
9	Chronic disease self- care during COVID-19: Asthma Diabetes	General public
10	Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance for children’s social care services	local authorities and their partners
11	Coronavirus (COVID-19): adult social care guidance	social care
12	Support for the bereaved	bereaved families, friends or next of kin
13	European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) COVID-19 homepage	Professionals
14	COVID-19 Hospital Cases Tracker – Quick View for Suffolk	Everyone

 

 

Local Resources:

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

 

	Title	Who For	Comments
	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 105, 4 May (new since last 24hrs)

Location	Confirmed	Deaths
Globally	3 435 894 cases(86 108)	239 604 deaths (976)
Europe	1 544 145 cases(25250)	143 987 deaths (1320)
Americas	1 433 756cases(49115)	77 827 deaths(-582
Eastern Mediterranean	206 299 cases(5690)	7971 deaths (100)
Western Pacific	152 773 cases(1329)	6258 deaths (29)
South-East Asia	67 673 cases(3626)	2463 deaths (88)
Africa	30 536 cases(1098)	1085 deaths(21)