a) Nottinghamshire Police
b) Environmental Health
c) Education
d) NHS
Minutes:
Steve Cooper – Nottingham Police updated the Board and highlighted the following information:
a) Since the lifting of the restrictions, there would more emphasis on returning to ‘Business as Usual’ for the force.
b) The number of Fixed Penalty Notices issued was slightly above the national average and other core cities; however it was not considered that this was particularly significant or disproportionate.
c) The Police were anticipating the first weekend of unlock and had worked with licensed premises in preparation of the first weekend without restrictions. The first week has been well managed and explained that a number of premises and transport providers had made wearing of face coverings a condition on entry into their stores/transport service.
d) The Police would continue to support the vaccination centre and also continued to work alongside the two Universities.
The Chair thanked the Police for their input and it was noted that it was likely that they would not be required to attend outbreak meeting in the future
Paul Dales, Chief Environmental Health Officer Nottingham City Council, gave an update on the work of the Environmental Health Team since the last Board meeting.
He highlighted the following information:
a) The team had continued to work with colleagues at Public Health England and had been reviewing premises and prioritising those with a significant staff cases.
b) Since the withdrawal of the Covid regulations, Environmental Health had no enforceable powers to intervene on enforcement matters.
c) The Environmental Health Team would align alongside the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in dealing with businesses and controlling risks in the work place. There will be a focus on work activity when the risk of transmission is above normal rates.
d) Continued guidance would be offered to businesses on ventilating work places. The government and HSE website provided guidance and information about how businesses can improve and achieve good and advised of the necessity to check that mechanical ventilation systems are used properly
Nick Lee – Director of Education, gave an update and highlighted the following information.
a) When last reported at the meeting on the 23 June 2021, there had been 927 pupils self-isolating. Figures from the 16 July indicated that 3496 school aged children were self-isolating with 261 pre-school children out of education across around 120 different bubbles.
b) Very recently, those figures had decreased and this was attributed to a number of schools having broken up for the summer holidays.
c) 148 teaching staff unavailable due to infection/suspected infection/self-isolating. Overall attendance of the 66 schools averaged 70% and during non Covid times was about 95%.
d) The rules changed around the process of identification of Covid cases from school- based decisions to the NHS test and trace. There were a number of difficulties for schools during the transition period but it was hoped they would be embedded by September when the schools re-opened.
e) The DfE guidance for step 4 had been issued for the return of pupils in September and it was noted that some of the measures imposed during Covid had been very positive with efforts being made to continue with these.
f) Parents and schools will be encouraged to continue with protective measures, which could be achieved by influencing through relationships; should an outbreak occur efforts would be made to mitigate the risks and some of the previous requirements could be re-instituted to prevent further infections.
g) The Board thanked the teachers and all support staff for their hard work during the pandemic.
Amanda Sullivan, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire CCG updated the Board and highlighted the following:
a) There had been a significant rise in cases and in those being admitted to hospital. The majority of people being admitted were those who had not been vaccinated or had just received a single dose of the vaccine.
b) Depending on the modelling, the peak may not be visible for a number of weeks and there is already significant pressures on the hospitals. Efforts were still underway to get people accessing their routine care but this was proving to be very challenging situation.
c) People were still being urged to come forward to get vaccinated especially amongst those with underlying health conditions or other vulnerabilities.
d) Approval had very recently been given to administer the vaccines to 16-18yr olds with a range of health conditions and children aged between 12-15yr who were vulnerable (e.g suppressed immunity) which were balanced around risk and benefits
e) There was a different age group being admitted to hospital compared to previous waves as vaccination rates were now much higher in older people. A much younger cohort of people were now being admitted