The Board will be updated on the latest position.
Minutes:
The Director of Public Health reported on the upturn in the number of Covid-19 cases in the last 3-month period. The Board was advised of what issues would be covered including the local position and epidemiology, the current control messages under tier 2 and how public health and partners had been working.
The Director of Public Health reported that lockdown 2 has had the desired affect with a 45% fall in Covid cases. The current rate was 84 per 100,000 population with the infection rate in over 60s falling significantly to 68 per 100,000. The Director of Public Heath indicated that this was one of the key measures that the Government would consider in assessing local controls which reflects our improved position in our health and care system. The Board was informed that in terms of testing about 9,500 people across the BCP area were tested each week with a drop in the positivity. The Director reported that contact tracing was completing about 70% with 15% in progress. The Board was advised of the local epidemic curve in the area and the increase in cases in September and October which were associated with various events including the opening of schools and the return of students to university which drove transmission rates.
The Director of Public Health reported on the current control measures explaining that with the end of lockdown both Unitary Authorities were in Tier 2 with a restriction on social mixing between households indoors and in private homes. The Director explained that although the economy has started to open up households were not permitted to mix in bars and restaurants. The tiers would be reviewed by the Government on 16 December 2020 but that did not mean that the rules around the tiers would be reviewed but a reassessment of the area’s tier status using the Government’s measures as set out in the Winter Plan.
The Board was advised of the current position with the local outbreak management plan which included a priority on contact tracing with the Response team and an out of hours rota to support high risk settings with incidents. The Director reported that assurance of that activity had been through the Health Protection Board which meets on a weekly basis and the assessment of controls and messages. He highlighted that as we moved into the second wave communications and engagement has been even more important and the continuation in working with the public to show those areas where it was necessary to achieve a high degree of compliance. The Board was advised the Local Outbreak Engagement Board had met as cases started to escalate to agree messaging and exit from lockdown and worked well with good discussion. The Director of Public Health referred to the work with colleagues in Dorset through the LRF looking at the wider area and the impact on the health and care system.
The Director of Public Health updated on the detail of the messaging to encourage residents to follow the guidelines including a range of activities, localised assets with a clear call to action for particular areas, graphics aimed at families and how to follow the guidelines and still have fun and the Christmas advent countdown.
The Board was advised of the outlook in the medium term, the development of vaccines and three priority work programmes namely the behaviour insights framework, local tracing partnerships including the development of welfare calls and rapid antigen testing for high risk settings. He thanked all partners for their support and work.
The Chairman thanked the Director of Public Health and his team for all their work and the Health Protection Board and partners for taking on that regular weekly meeting and the co-ordination of data to enable partners to understand the position.
RESOLVED that the update provided by the Director of Public Health be received and noted.