Notice of
Motion
gREEN GROUP
COVID-19: NATIONAL ACTION FOR LOCAL IMPACT
|
Test and
trace - urgent action to address the failings in the national test and trace system and its subsequent impacts on our city, [1] by providing necessary funding and resources to support the expertise and local knowledge of public health teams, and to develop stronger partnerships that can deliver contact tracing at a local level where needed; - a robust system of engagement with councils on any restrictions, to ensure local leaders and communities are able to shape and respond to any local lockdown measures; [2]
Impact of
lockdown -that the impacts of lockdown [3] on quality of life and mental health are the subject of a public report, with findings acknowledged and communicated, helping those affected to understand how lockdown affects both mental and physical health, with due consideration given to the additional support and resources public services will require to continue to manage long-term effects; -in view of the impact on livelihoods, loss of furlough and rising redundancies, to use the forthcoming spending review to outline a genuine ‘Green New Deal,’[4] to help create long-term, well paid jobs and skills to combat both the economic impact of Covid-19 and climate crisis across the UK and in our city |
Proposed by: Cllr Rainey Seconded by: Cllr Mac Cafferty
[1] Figures show national contact tracing reached only 64.3% of cases in the week ending 23 September while local teams reached 97.6% of the cases they handled. Private labs given responsibility for processing test swabs were unable to meet demand, leading Government to ‘prioritise,’ causing a huge backlog and delay in data with local residents given no test option close to home. Further, a data error led to 16,000 cases of Covid-19 going unrecorded and untraced.
[2]
The
Association of Directors of Public Health has urged Government to
urgently collaborate with local areas to improve the effectiveness
of the test and trace system. Promises by Test and Trace boss Dido
Harding to redeploy 12,000 contact tracers to local areas have also
failed to materialise.
Council leaders have spoken of little notice given or collaboration
over imposed lockdown: https://bit.ly/36Oa9tI
[3] Lockdown impacts include Increase of 50% of calls to domestic abuse helplines, Increase in isolation and associated mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, increased pressure on care-givers, increased reliance on screen based activities and social media, anxiety about job and financial security, and there are concerns regarding an increase in suicide rates: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7177120/