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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual Zoom Meeting. View directions

Contact: Gordon Oliver 

Media

Items
No. Item

253.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 318 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 December 2021 were approved as a true and correct record.

254.

Declarations of interest pdf icon PDF 299 KB

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made.

255.

Covid-19 situational report pdf icon PDF 300 KB

Minutes:

The Board considered a presentation from Matt Pearce (Agenda Item 4) on the Covid-19 Situational Report. Key points from the presentation were:

·         There had been an exponential increase in cases in the last two weeks with over 90,000 cases announced on the day of the meeting.

·         Omicron was the variant causing 80% of cases in London, and accounted for 40-50% of cases in the South East and West Berkshire.

·         Testing rates were increasing with some pressure on the Newbury Showground test site, but capacity was being increased.

·         9.9% of test results were positive in the most recent 7 day period.

·         There were 557.9 cases per 100,000 population amongst the general population which was similar to the South East average and lower than the England average.

·         Amongst the 60+ age group the figure was 165.9 per 100,000 population.

·         The most recent data for West Berkshire showed a 21.7% increase in the 7-day case rate.

·         There were high case rates across a broad range of age groups, particularly the 35-50 age group.

·         Rates were lower amongst older people.

·         High case rates were not reflected in hospital admissions – the latest figures showed 24 Covid patients in the Royal Berkshire hospital, 3 new patients admitted and 1 on mechanical ventilation.

·         The majority of Covid patients in emergency care were unvaccinated and this trend became more pronounced amongst older age groups.

·         There had been no Covid-related deaths in the last week.

·         There had been a national high demand for Lateral Flow Devices, driven by the national policy for seven days of testing for vaccinated contacts of a Covid-19 case.

·         There had been some short-term logistical issues with the online ordering system, which had been resolved.

·         The Council’s Targeted Community Testing Programme had been expanded, with more testing crews, a new static site at the Kennet Centre and a facility supporting the Hungerford pop-up clinic.

·         More home LFD test kits had been ordered for the Community Testing Programme.

·         Omicron had become the dominant variant in the UK with a doubling time of two to three days.

·         There was evidence that it was immune evasive and very transmissible.

·         People were 5 times more likely to be infected with Omicron than Delta.

·         Current vaccines were estimated to protect against severe Covid related  illness, hospitalisations and deaths. However, breakthrough infections were expected amongst fully vaccinated people.

·         There was limited evidence as to whether Omicron was less severe and a high infection rate was expected to lead to an increase in hospitalisations and deaths.

·         Testing, vaccinations and non-pharmaceutical interventions remained critical.

The Chairman asked to what extent the UK would be able to live with Covid, how long ongoing boosters would be needed and when we would reach a situation there were no hospitalisations.

Matt Pearce acknowledged that people were tired and that Christmas would influence how they would behave. He noted that there were still lots of people who had not been vaccinated yet, which would lead to pressure on hospitals if they were to get Covid. He  ...  view the full minutes text for item 255.

256.

Vaccination programme update pdf icon PDF 298 KB

Minutes:

The Board considered a presentation from Jo Reeves (Agenda Item 5) relating to the Vaccination Programme. Key points from the presentation were as follows:

·         All residents aged 18+ could book a booster three months after their second vaccine.

·         12-15 year olds were able to book a second vaccine 12 weeks after their first or wait for a school visit.

·         The national aim was to offer a booster dose to all adults by 31 December.

·         Work was ongoing with system partners to match supply and demand.

·         New sites were being brought online for boosters and capacity was being increased at existing sites.

·         Workforce gaps were being addressed with Council staff being redeployed.

·         The Hungerford pop-up clinic had been extended to 22 December and discussions were ongoing about whether it could be extended further. This offered first doses to 12-15 year olds, first and second doses to 16-17 year olds, and first, second and booster doses to those aged 18+. 5,335 vaccines had been delivered by 19 December.

·         Thanks were given to Councillors Doherty and Vickers for volunteering.

·         The Health on the Move Van had been cancelled, since it could not operate safely due to the level of demand. The team was looking to see how residents in isolated communities could be served (e.g. pop-ups run by local pharmacies, more walk-in availability, etc).

·         The list of sites in West Berkshire and neighbouring areas was highlighted.

·         More slots were being added through the national booking system, so people were encouraged to keep checking for availability.

·         52% of people aged 12+ had received a booster jab – this was better than for England as a whole.

·         The Kennet Centre pharmacy was praised for conducting 10,000 vaccinations in 4 days.

The Chairman asked what proportion of the eligible population had received a booster jab. Jo Reeves indicted that this figure was 59.1%.

Councillor Lynne Doherty asked how members of the public could volunteer to support local pop-up clinics. Jo Reeves suggested that people should sign up through the Royal Voluntary Service, which had an app showing the locations and roles where help was being sought and the shifts that were available. She also noted that Hungerford had its own local system and offered to circulate a link to the sign-up sheet.

Councillor Doherty asked about providing boosters for rough sleepers. Jo Reeved confirmed that a team from Thatcham Medical Practice had provided vaccinations to 25 people at the Newbury Soup Kitchen on 9 December. Some had also used the clinic in the Kennet Centre. In addition, the Health on the Move Van had visited the Two Saints hostel and vaccinated 25 people. She indicated that she would liaise with the Housing Manager to confirm the requirements for future vaccinations.

Councillor Doherty thanked the A34 Primary Care Network for participating in the vaccination programme.

Councillor Martha Vickers thanked Jo Reeves for her hard work on the Hungerford Clinic. She noted that morale had been good despite the long queues. She had also been impressed by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 256.

257.

Public Protection Partnership update pdf icon PDF 299 KB

Minutes:

The Board considered a presentation from Sean Murphy (Agenda Item 6) relating to the work of the Public Protection Partnership (PPP). Key points from the presentation were:

·         Local contact tracing activity was increasing – 223 for the week ending 8 December vs 201 for the previous week.

·         The service had made self-isolation support calls to 450 residents in the last two weeks and provided practical assistance to 20 people.

·         Staff were being redeployed to provide additional support and more staff would be trained up.

·         A new prioritisation model had been agreed with the NHS Test and Trace service.

·         The national service would run contact tracing between 25-28 December, with the local service taking over on 29 December.

·         Outbreak monitoring and notifications would continue over the Christmas period.

·         Coincidence reporting would still be considered on a daily basis and contact made with settings with potential outbreaks.

·         Advisory visits were being made based on risk.

·         The service was working with premises / businesses affected by certification rules (e.g. Newbury Racecourse).

·         Enquiries had been received from other premises and businesses with planned events.

·         The pre-Christmas event seasons was largely over – the PPP had attended a number of events and had provided advice where sought.

·         The PPP had considered nearly 300 events since April.

·         The Service was ready to react to any changes in guidance over the holiday period.

Councillor Steve Masters asked what additional protections were planned for schools when they returned in January. Sean Murphy observed that many recent outbreaks had been in schools. He explained that the Internal Coordination Cell would meet on 29 December to review any new guidance. He was not aware of any new guidance for schools. Andy Sharp indicated that the Council continued to work closely with schools and there were testing regimes in place and a vaccine programme was in place. He noted that schools were allowed to make some decisions around the use of masks and take other additional steps as needed. Education staff were allocated to work with schools and ensure they had the right advice and to address outbreaks as they occurred.

Councillor Dominic Boeck observed that when he had visited schools, they had praised the work of the Schools Improvement Team in interpreting and communicating government guidance and regulations. With regards to the work of the PPP, he highlighted a news item on the radio where a business had been fined for a marginal breach of social distancing guidance, but the approach in West Berkshire had been to highlight where there had been a breach and encourage businesses to take the appropriate steps. He thanked Sean and his team for their proactive approach.

258.

Communications update pdf icon PDF 297 KB

Minutes:

Martin Dunscombe was not present to provide an update on Covid related communications.

The Chairman noted that there were several communications issues that had cropped up in discussions, which would be referred to the Communications Team for their attention.

Sean Murphy indicated that he would be asking the Communications Team to develop messaging around people who tested positive for Covid completing the online journey, which helped to reduce the workload for the national and local Contact Tracing Teams.

259.

Future meetings and agenda items pdf icon PDF 297 KB

Minutes:

It was agreed that the next meeting of the Board should be on Monday 10 January 2022 at 6pm.

260.

Any other business pdf icon PDF 297 KB

Minutes:

No other items were raised.