A verbal update will be given at the meeting on the current position regarding the Covid-19 pandemic. The Committee is recommended to receive the update and comment as required.
Minutes:
The Director of Public Health and the Director of Finance provided an update on the Covid-19 data in Leicester.
The Director of Public Health reported:
· There was a good resource of Corona Virus data on the Council’s website, and included detail such as ward, area, age groups and ethnicity.
· It was a challenging period for families, the Council and the NHS. Numbers of Covid-19 cases seen both locally and nationally had been extremely high but it appeared some of the worst seen over the winter had passed.
· On 7th January 2021 the seven-day weekly rate was 570 per 100k. As of 4th February 2021, the rate was down to 365 per 100k.
· The figure was still high, with the national figure around 280, but the good news was significant falls were being seen day on day.
· There were concerns in the rate in the over 60s reported previously when there was a week where there were 600 per 100k cases. The figure had now fallen to 383 per 100k.
· 17-21 year olds cases had seen high numbers in the area, but more in places like Nottingham, where people were concerned about those of university student age. At the beginning of the year the number of cases were 539 per 100k, but were now at 241 per 100k, a significant drop. Students were, though, beginning to return back to accommodation, and the situation would continue to be monitored.
· Pressure remained on health services, with hospital admissions being extremely high with around 120 Covid cases per week at beginning of year. The rate was gradually starting to slow down with some plateauing. As of the 29th January there were 105 Covid-related hospital admissions.
· Sadly, there were still significant numbers of deaths amongst the community, with 21 per week at the beginning of year. On the 22nd January the figure had gone up to 38 deaths per week. In the next week or two it was hoped there would be a reduction in the number of deaths in line with national reductions.
· In most of the ward areas now, the picture was week-on-week reductions in cases, and it appeared every area in the city was either flat or falling and was really positive.
· The NHS was responsible for the vaccination programme roll out which was going well, but there were some challenges. Data was starting to be received routinely.
· Focus had been on the over 80s and now 75-79 age group. Across the area over 100k doses of the vaccine had been given. All care homes had been visited other than any care home with a live outbreak.
· There was above 85% coverage for the over 80s programme. The 75-79 year olds was coming up to over 75% coverage. Information was received on the vaccination data from NHS colleagues and would be shared with Members.
· There was some concern around the vulnerable communities, homeless communities etc. The first outreach clinic in homeless communities was started on 3rd February. A number of hostels had been visited and vaccinations given. Work continued with the homeless and rough sleepers also.
The Director of Finance reported:
· The C19 support email had worked incredibly well for those worried about themselves or others and would continue to be offered. Up to 2,500 emails on average had been received a month, and staff had worked seven days a week to respond to them, including contacting people to find out what their needs were.
· Officers were also running the various grant schemes. There was a wide range of business grants which were unfortunately unnecessarily complex.
· The was an additional restrictions grant which would be on the website imminently for a further round of grants, and those grants with an entitlement would be paid straight away where business details were already known, for example, pubs were required to be closed and were entitled to a payment on a periodic basis, and would not be required to keep applying.
· The winter support grant scheme is in place to support families and individuals facing financial difficulties, in particular with food and utility bills. Over the winter period it included the free school meals offer over Christmas and would also be done at half-term.
· When a referral was received, a wide range of support would be looked at, for example, help with council tax, heating, food, and utilities.
· The Contact Tracing Team was still the only team for a local authority in the country undertaking contact tracing after the eight-hour digital period. The Team received data on people who had not filled out details online after a positive test. The Team would try to contact the person remotely at first by email and/or phone. If there was no contact the ground team would visit addresses.
· Cases were averaging at 1,400 per week for the team to investigate, and there was a 91% success rate. The 9% not contacted was a mix of people that could not be found, such as, people giving incorrect information, for example, giving other people’s addresses / phone numbers. Some cases were uncooperative with some not willing to share information but were the minority and not the majority.
· The Team worked seven days a week. It was important that people received the advice on the requirement for households to self-isolate, and were also able to discuss any need for wider support.
In response to questions, the following was noted:
· Some residents were being asked to go to Loughborough for vaccinations. It was noted there had been some limitations previously with the Pfizer vaccine. The Oxford Astra-Zeneca vaccine was more portable, and GPs were undertaking home visits for patients who were housebound.
· The authority was routinely advised of the proportion of the new variant in the city, and the majority of cases were of the Kent variant at 70.1%, which was easily transmissible.
· There was a mixed picture across the country over the age range of the vaccination roll out. The Midlands were towards the front of the pack in terms of the proportion and were dropping down the age range. The City was pushing to have over 70s done close to second week in February, following which the roll-out would drop down the age range.
· The Government had stated it would move the vaccine availability across the country. The goal was to make sure all those over the age of 70 received their vaccination first. Stocks of vaccine was still the rate limiting factor.
· The Authority had always ensured the best for the city with the resources it had, with the information it had, and in making sure that people realised the significance of actions they were being asked to do, such as social distancing, staying at home, washing hands and ventilation of space, which remained incredibly important. People had initially not appreciated how devastating the virus would be, and some still did not even with the numbers cited.
The City Mayor agreed with Members’ criticism of the Government and hoped there would be a public enquiry. He noted how Government almost at every stage had been slow to react compared with other governments. He added there had been a failure of Government to engage with local authorities, more obviously with the city as it was placed in extended lockdown, and the failure to recognise that local knowledge and expertise was a massive resource. Rather than being dismissive of it they should have drawn on it from the start, and trusted the authority with the information it needed, and provided the details of what the initial testing was showing to allow intervention. He added he was astonished that as the Authority was undertaking contact tracing, the Government was not trusting other authorities to do the same. The Chair echoed the City Mayor’s sentiments.
· There had been some people under the age of 70 that had received vaccinations because they were vulnerable, key workers, or frontline healthcare workers.
· Complaints and concerns about GP access had been raised with Health Strategic Group.
· It was asked if the rising figures in Leicester had been affected by others coming into the country, or lockdown fatigue, why were the numbers relatively high compared to the national average and was there a danger of another rise. It was noted that Health had been concerned about the sustained and ongoing levels in the city, which had been a challenge nationally. The authority had worked with the Joint Bio-Security Centre to try to explain why the city and a couple of other areas in the country did not see the same sharp rises or sharp falls as the rest of the country. The initial report had not revealed anything not already suspected in relation to housing, people feeling that they needed to go to work therefore not isolating as they ought to. It was believed the reality was a layering of a number of factors and not one single thing. There, however, remained the issue around ongoing transmission, and work continued to reduce levels of transmission. The Director of Public Health would pull out the key themes from the report and share them with members of the Committee.
· Officers had spoken to CCG colleagues, and analysts were now getting a data feed from them around vaccination. Also, the vaccination data feed was now being released to public health directors. The local CCG were trying to help with the data void.
· Officers had moved overnight from office based to home working. Initially there were teething problems with the technology infrastructure, but 10 days IT had quadrupled capacity. People were seeing the benefits of home working with a better work/life balance. It had forced a change that did not suit all, for example, some staff were finding it difficult with home schooling and working, but most had embraced home working. In the future it was expected there would be a mixed economy and have a mixed working at home/ office with less car use.
The Chair thanked the officers for the update.
AGREED:
That:
1. the position and updates be noted.
2. The Director of Public Health circulate the key themes of the report of the Joint Bio-Security Centre with Members of the Overview Select Committee.