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:
Julie OBoyle (Consultant in Public Health) and Alison Greenhill (Chief Operating Officer (COO)) provided an update on the Covid-19 data in Leicester.
The Consultant in Public Health reported:
· Positive progress was being made in the fight against the virus, but the rate in the city remained double the national average, at currently 135.5 per 100k people.
· A fall had been seen in the rate in the over 60s at 94.9 per 100k people.
· Patient numbers in hospital were falling, as was the number of people dying within 28 days of a Covid-19 diagnosis.
· Vaccination rates were increasing across the city, with 28% of the total population having had their first dose.
· The rates of vaccinations were positive in the older population and care homes.
· As well as symptomatic testing across the city, six testing centres were delivering the lateral flow test with good uptake.
· Schools had reopened. Secondary school pupils were required to take three lateral flow tests in schools supervised and then test kits at home twice a week for pupils and people in their bubble.
· The R-rate was at its lowest since the end September 2020, a much-improved picture.
The COO reported:
· With the contact tracing programme, there had been 97.5% successful contact. People were being contacted early and the right advice being given to people to protect themselves and their families.
· DHSC were calling it the ‘Leicester model’ and it was being used as an exemplar model.
· Business grants were complex, difficult and time consuming. The authority was running various business grant schemes. The Council’s website provided information on the additional restrictions grant which had some flexibility as to who it could be given to.
· There were a range of targeted schemes looking at small and micro non-essential businesses, such as those in the city affected by footfall, for example, dry cleaners, market traders, garages, charity offices, places of worship, driving instructors.
· Officers were keeping business’ eligibility under review and would look at any convincing argument as to why people should have the grant.
In response to questions from Members, the following points were made:
· There had been an issue about vaccination take-up a few weeks previous in St Peters and St Matthews. There had been an increase in figures of take-up based on registered GP population.
ACTION: Figures for people eligible in the city to be provided to Members.
· In terms of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, there had been widespread reports on an increased risk of blood clots. It was reported that over 11 million doses had been given in the UK and with no blood clot cases reported. It was noted that blood clots became more common as people got older, overweight, smoked and were associated with a sedentary lifestyle. There was no evidence currently the vaccine caused blood clots but might be a compounding factor between people being vaccinated and risk factors. Information had been sent out to cancel the myths in circulation and included information form GPs encouraging people to take up the vaccine.
· There were some areas of the city and communities where vaccination take-up was lower than others, though none that were disastrously low. Across all communities and areas there was a general enthusiasm to have the vaccine, and there was uptake increases as time passed.
· With regards to business grants over 17,000 payments had been made. Regular reporting back to Government on who had received grants and the amount paid was made. There was intention to publish the data being mindful of data protection. Once the business grant scheme came to an end, a comprehensive report would be brought back to the Committee.
· All cases who were positive for the virus were being contacted by the tracing team, individuals including the household of the positive contact, were asked questions on support requirements, such as the self-isolation support payment of which there were two types; one for people on work related benefits, or if people were not on work-related benefits they would have to demonstrate hardship if they were to self-isolate for 10 days, for example, if they were self-employed, but they might not be eligible if a partner in the household was working. There was other assistance that could be offered, for example, with utility bills, or the winter support grant scheme.
· A benefit of the contact tracing team was being able have a rounded view, to be able to talk to the household to give them financial and safety advice.
· The Council had no means of making someone stay at home, and someone could be eligible for support and still leave the house.
· The Peepul Centre had been reported as operating at 10% capacity. It was noted that the local authority had no control over the vaccination centres. Understanding was a lot of communication by health colleagues had been done to encourage people to take up the vaccine, and to ensure people it was safe. There were now different ways the vaccine was being delivered to communities at a local level, for example, GP surgeries, pharmacies.
· Figures in Leicester were reducing but were still high compared with the national figure. It was not yet known if the figure was low enough or what level the city needed to be at to be lifted from restrictions in line with the rest of the country so work would continue to bring rates down as low as possible. If there was to be a reintroduction of the tier system it could look at different data, for example case numbers, the over 60s rate, positivity rate, and how the local NHS was coping. Not yet been given any guidance, so assuming have to bring rates down as low as possible to get back to normality.
· Data was not received for schools, but information received on individual cases which would not be classed as an outbreak.
The City Mayor said he was incredibly impressed with the way officers and teams had dealt with the challenges raised over the past year.