COVID-19 Response - Spring 2021 (Summary)

Published 5th April 2021

The Prime Minister confirmed that from next Monday (April 12) • pubs and restaurants will be able to serve outdoors, • non-essential shops and hairdressers can reopen & • outdoor attractions such as zoos and theme parks can have visitors. People should not to book overseas summer holidays yet because border re-openings could happen later than the planned date of May 17. The Government also opened the door to the mass use of Covid status certification checks – Covid passports – saying they are likely to become "a feature of our lives" until the pandemic fades. Scientists said that while vaccines were having a major impact by cutting illness and deaths, they were not effective enough to allow a return to normal social mixing without the risk of "a big epidemic". Government also published an update on four reviews into • international travel, • crowded events, • Covid status certificates & • social distancing. Even with the success of the vaccine rollout, which has seen more than half the adult population get their first jab, concerns remain. "Even after two doses the vaccine will not be 100 per cent effective and some people will not take up the offer of a vaccine. As a result, some measures may be required for a period after all adults have been offered a vaccine in order to prevent a surge in infections.” Previous ‘Ts & Cs’. Travel Government advice is to “stay local”, with guidance against people staying away from their main residence overnight. Families who own second homes can legally stay at them from Monday. Campsites and self-contained holiday accommodation remain closed until at after the Easter holidays. Holidays abroad are also banned. Exemptions are for work, study, moving house or attending a major family event such as a birth, wedding or funeral. Sport Outdoor sports facilities including golf courses, tennis and basketball courts and swimming pools can all open as part of the easing of restrictions. Protests The ban on protests would also lift on March 29. Places of worship, weddings and funerals Places of worship have remained open during the latest lockdown, and therefore there are no changes to services on March 29. Restrictions remain in place for Easter services, including that people "must not mingle with anyone outside of your household or support bubble". Rules around funerals, which are allowed with 30 attendees and wakes with six attendees, also remain the same. However, Monday's easing means that weddings will no longer be limited to exceptional circumstances. This means anyone wishing to tie the knot can do so with up to six attendees. Returning to work E veryone who "can work from home must do so", but as the "Stay Home" order is lifted the language has changed to say that "people should continue to work from home where they can". However, the advice remains that the number of journeys should be minimised and people should avoid travel at peak times. It is expected that the Government will issue further guidance on working home in the near future. ______________________________________________________________________ ELECTIONS: The roadmap explains that Covid-secure council, mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections will go ahead on May 6 in England and Wales. The Government plans to amend the coronavirus regulations 'to enable a broader range of campaign-related activity from March 8, but it is essential that this still takes place in a Covid-Secure way, in line with guidance and the law'. ______________________________________________________________________

“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 is to close 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 next month 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 debacles 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 14 th April 2021

of LOCKDOWN UK

Total Virus Tests administered 134,397,573 Positive tests (to date) 4,375,814 Mortalities: 150,419 UK Deaths (per day) 23 People vaccinated - 1st dose 32,250,481 (as of 14 April 2021) - 2nd dose 7,857,396 Worcestershire cases 33,155 Worcestershire deaths 802 Wyre Forest cases 5,536 Worcester City cases 6,044 Wolverhampton cases 24,669 Sandwell cases 33,960 Dudley cases 26,644 Birmingham cases 100,675 The Acute Hospital Trust covers Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Evesham Community Hospital as well as the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch and Kidderminster Hospital.