Agenda item - Presentation - Covid Recovery Plan Strategy and Update on Outbreak Control Plan

This will be a joint presentation at the actual public Board meeting by the Director of Public Health, Executive Director, Adult Health and Social Care and the CCG updating on the information provided to previous meetings and on the current situation in the city.

53.1    The Director of Public Health, Alistair Hill, gave a presentation (copy uploaded to the agenda pack on the council website) detailing the arrangements being put into place going forward both to seek to continue to contain the number of cases across the city and importantly to foster and sustain recovery. Symptom free testing had expanded across the City with the following taking place:

4,000 tests per day - 70% are in schools, as they have fully reopened

This was picking up more asymptomatic cases - enabling them to self-isolate and break the chain of transmission.;

Following the week with the lowest case rate for 5 months, in the most recent week there had been a small increase in cases, accounted for by positive results following the expansion of LFD testing;

It was vital to note that every stage of the Government’s roadmap would introduce social mixing and potentially increased risk highlighting the importance of social distancing and following the remaining restrictions;

The number of cases in residents aged 60+ remained low and the number of hospital inpatients was continuing to fall a positive impact of vaccination;

Following the peak in January, the number of deaths (Covid and all cause) had fallen and had built in resilience in the event of any future spikes in infection rates.

41.2    An update was also given regarding measures in place within the NHS and it was confirmed that robust measures were in place, that services were operating well within capacity and that there was confidence that any increases could be accommodated.

41.3    A summary was provided in respect of health and care settings and in relation to the ratio of service users to staff testing positive. The challenge was in finding the balance between enabling visits and protecting residents and staff. Whilst in recent weeks there had been fewer cases across the city it was too early to conclude that this represented a sustained downward trend as that decline was almost entirely attributable to fewer cases in young adults, explainable in part to fewer cases in students. Currently, the case rate was stable in working age and older adults, with cases associated with a wide range f settings and places with older people having being at higher risk of complications and hospital admissions. Therefore, the impact on the health and care system was significant. Lockdown presented an opportunity to drive down the R rate and to reduce and prevent pressure on health services and to maintain manageable infection levels.

41.4    It was also explained that local authorities were required to have Local Plans in place in order to respond to Covid as part of their existing duty for protecting the health of their population. The original plan had been published on 30 June 2020 and updated refreshed guidance had been published on 1 March 2021. All relevant partners had had input into and had agreed the plan. Key themes highlighted were:

          Infection Prevention and Control;

          Test Trace and Isolate;

          Non-Pharmaceutical Intervention; and

          Vaccination

41.5    RESOLVED – That the contents of the presentation be noted and received.