COVID-19 Response - Spring 2021 (Summary)

From 17 May:

• You should continue to work from home if you can. • When travelling within the UK, you should aim to do so safely and plan your journey in advance. You should get a test and follow the stay at home guidance if you have COVID-19 symptoms. • Gathering limits will be eased. Outdoor gatherings will be limited to 30 people and indoor gatherings will be limited to 6 people or 2 households (each household can include a support bubble, if eligible). New guidance on meeting friends and family will emphasise personal responsibility rather than government rules. Instead of instructing you to stay 2m apart from anyone you don’t live with, you will be encouraged to exercise caution and consider the guidance on risks associated with COVID-19 and actions you can take to help keep you and your loved ones safe. Remember that the risks of close contact may be greater for some people than others and in some settings and circumstances, there will be specific guidance that you will need to follow even when you are with friends and family. • Indoor entertainment Indoor entertainment and attractions such as cinemas, theatres, concert halls, bowling alleys, casinos, amusement arcades, museums and children’s indoor play areas will be permitted to open with COVID-secure measures in place. People will be able to attend indoor and outdoor events, including live performances, sporting events and business events. Attendance at these events will be capped according to venue type, and attendees should follow the COVID-secure measures set out by those venues. • Indoor hospitality venues such as restaurants, pubs, bars and cafes can reopen. • Organised indoor sport will be able to take place for all (this includes gym classes). This must be organised by a business, charity or public body and the organiser must take reasonable measures to reduce the risk of transmission. • You can meet in public in a group of 6 or a larger group of any size from up to 2 households (including their support bubbles) outdoors. This includes private outdoor spaces, such as gardens, and other outdoor public places and venues that are open. These include the following: ▪ parks, beaches, countryside accessible to the public, forests ▪ public and botanical gardens ▪ the grounds of a heritage site ▪ outdoor sculpture parks ▪ allotments ▪ public playgrounds ▪ outdoor sports venues and facilities ▪ outdoor hospitality venues ▪ outdoor attractions • All holiday accommodation will be open (including hotels and B&Bs). This can be used by groups of up to 6 or 2 households (each household can include a support bubble, if eligible). • Funeral attendance will no longer be limited to 30 people, but will be determined by how many people the COVID-secure venue can safely accommodate with social distancing. • Limits at weddings, wakes and other commemorative events will be increased to 30 people. Other significant ‘life events’, such as bar/bat mitzvahs and christenings, will also be able to take place with 30 people. • The rules for care home residents visiting out and receiving visitors will change, allowing up to five named visitors (two at any one time), provided visitors test negative for COVID-19. • All higher education students will be able to access in-person teaching. • Support groups and parent and child group gathering limits will increase to 30 people (not including under 5s) • There will no longer be a legal restriction or permitted reason required to travel internationally. There will be a traffic light system for international travel. • Face coverings You must wear a face covering in many indoor settings, such as shops and places of worship, and on public transport, unless you are exempt or have a reasonable excuse. This is the law. • If you have been vaccinated against COVID-19 To help protect yourself and your friends, family, and community you should continue to follow all of the guidance on this page even if you’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19. The vaccines have been shown to reduce the likelihood of severe illness in most people. Like all medicines, no vaccine is completely effective, so those who have received the vaccine should continue to take recommended precautions to avoid infection. It is not know by how much the vaccine stops COVID-19 from spreading. Even if you have been vaccinated, you could still spread COVID-19 to others. • Asymptomatic testing Rapid lateral flow testing is now available free to anybody without symptoms. You can get your tests from pharmacies, testing sites, employers, schools, colleges and universities. Find out more about how to get rapid lateral flow tests Testing twice a week will help make sure you don’t have COVID-19, reducing the risk to those around you. _______________________________________________

“Farewell”, Nightingale.

‘The Cuckoo comes in April .. he sings his song in May .. In the middle of June he will change his tune .. in July he will fly away.’ And now Birmingham's 2,000-bed Nightingale hospital commissioned by NHS at the height of the first wave and built at a cost of £66million has closed, without ever treating a single patient ! In the past year since it was completed not a single person has been treated , so it’s being shut down for good as coronavirus infection rates plummet will not necessarily be a loss .. other than the time, effort and expense involved. But didn’t we all feel safer, knowing that it was there ? _______________________________________________

Who will be ‘Brought To Account’ ?

The Public Accounts Committee could not have been more damning. This financial year £22 billion has been allocated to Test and Trace , with another £15 billion next year = £37,000,000,000.00. At one point, more than 2,000 consultants were employed on the project at an average cost of £1,100 per day , and some on £6,624 ( per day ) We have been paying the wages of 25,000 tracers, even when they have had nothing to do – at one stage last year they were being utilised just 1 per cent of their working hours. But then, no-one was / will / will ever be ‘bought-to-account’ for the debarcles of • the Bristol Brabazon (£3,400,000.00 - at 1953 prices ) - an 8 engined, propeller-powered aircraft, of which only the prototype flew, only the once • Tony Blair’s £10,000,000,000.00 failed I.T. system for the NHS • Test and Trace £37,000,000,000.00 • HS2 £107,000,000,000.00 - according to Lord Berkeley of the government's independent review into the project.

STATISTICS

as per 12 th May 2021

of LOCKDOWN UK

Total Virus Tests administered 163,345,211 Positive tests (last 7 days) 17,318 Mortalities: 151,765 UK Deaths (per day) 20 People vaccinated - 1st dose 35,587,348(as of 12 May 2021) - 2nd dose18,088,385 Worcestershire cases 33,451 Worcestershire deaths 806 Wyre Forest cases 5,587 Worcester City cases 6,116 Wolverhampton cases 24,905 Sandwell cases 34,362 Dudley cases 26,918 Birmingham cases 101,675 The Acute Hospital Trust covers Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Evesham Community Hospital as well as the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch and Kidderminster Hospital.

Latest National Stats. U.K. total:

PATIENTS ADMITTED

116

(Daily - 05 May)

PATIENTS IN HOSPITAL

1,108

(Covid 09 May)

PATIENTS ON VENTILATION

143

(As of 09 May)