Agenda item

Alison Challenger, Director of Public Health, Nottingham City Council gave a presentation on Nottingham’s Control Plan covering the following issues:

(a)  Rates remain low across England though there has been some increase in outbreaks in the northwest, Birmingham, Blackburn and Darwen. In Leicester where lockdown restrictions remained cases are now reducing considerably. Lots of learning is being taken from the affected areas.

(b)  Case detections are highest in adults aged 85 and over and there has been an increase in proportion of cases from Asian/Asian British ethnic groups.

(c)  The number of deaths continues to decline. In Nottingham no Covid related deaths have been recorded in the last week. Sadly, to date 234 deaths have occurred in Nottingham. Just over 1 in 3 deaths in Nottingham occurred in a care home and the majority of those who died had pre-existing conditions.

(d)  The Government’s contain framework identifies areas where outbreaks may be occurring. Where this happens national support will be offered but the situation will be managed by the local authority.

(e)  Nottingham is not currently an area of concern as cases remain comparatively low but there is no complacency. 1,206 people have tested positive in Nottingham City since the start of the outbreak, a rate of 363.7 per 100,000. Daily cases peaked in mid-April with an average of 27 new cases per day but there has been a steady decline since.

(f)  More data has gradually been coming through and weekly updates are published on the Council’s website. While the 80+ age group has been the worst affected, cases are now starting to rise amongst younger people.

(g)  The Local Outbreak Control Plan was submitted by the end of June but work continues on the areas identified as high risk which each have their own incident management plans. There are also plans for local contact tracing, local testing, supporting vulnerable people and communications and engagement. The Outbreak Control Cell is meeting daily.

(h)  Strong governance arrangements are in place to ensure effective sharing of information, planning and operation if required.

(i)  Local Authorities have been granted new powers to cancel events and close premises to protect public health. Enforcement will be a last resort and will be very clearly communicated if they are to be used.

(j)  It is important to continue to work to stop the spread by maintaining social distance, keeping left on pavements, handwashing, using facecoverings where required and self-isolating and getting tested if symptomatic.

(k)  Links to the latest available information were shared.

During the subsequent discussion the following points were raised:

(l)  Nottingham has worked hard to produce information in community languages but the messages from government are becoming more complex and this is becoming more challenging. Views are being sought on how effective this has been through feedback from communities and the Covid response survey. Work is being done with GPs on bespoke messaging to particular communities.

(m)Partnerships in Nottingham are very strong. The governance arrangements have developed significantly and form a good basis for managing any future outbreaks.