Agenda item

Matt Pearce provided an update on the Covid-19 situation in West Berkshire. He stated that all data presented was correct as of the 6^th of December 2020. He also noted that the slides being presented were now in line with the rest of Berkshire and would be published on the Berkshire Public Health website.

Changes to restrictions:

·       National lockdown restrictions were lifted on 2 December and replaced with a local tier system

·       Slough was in tier 3: very high alert

·       Bracknell Forest, West Berkshire, Reading, Wokingham and Windsor & Maidenhead were in tier 2: high alert

·       The local alert levels would be reviewed every 2 weeks

Situational awareness:

• He noted that the positivity rates per 100,000 had decreased across all Berkshire authorities compared to the previous week and now stood at 50.5 per 100,000 in West Berkshire, which was the lowest rate in Berkshire.

·       The positivity rate was 2.9% in West Berkshire

·       Cases per 100,000 for the 60+ age group stood at 27.3

• West Berkshire had now had 1,745 cases of Covid-19

Epidemiology of cases:

• There had been 14,340 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Berkshire. 68% of these had occurred since the beginning of October.

Deaths

• There had been 144 COVID-19 related deaths in West Berkshire during the pandemic. 
• 2 deaths were recorded for the last week (14^th November to 20^th November).
• Since March 2020, West Berkshire’s all-cause mortality rate has been 21% higher than the previous 5 year average, which equates to 181 additional deaths.

Hospital activity

• Hospital activity information was not available for Berkshire hospitals or residents in a format that can be shared publicly. The information on this page therefore shows the latest data for the NHS South East Region.
• On 1^st December, 1,265 patients were in hospital with COVID-19 in the South East. 111 of these were on mechanical ventilation. The hospital admission rate was beginning to decrease.

Outbreaks:

• An outbreak is defined by PHE as two or more cases with highly probable or confirmed epidemiological links. For care home settings one case counts as an outbreak.
• Number of new outbreaks in West Berkshire by setting (30 November  – 6 December:

Measures to prevent Covid-19

• The most effective method of stopping transmission of Covid-19 is to wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, to use a face mask in shops and enclosed public spaces and to keep 2 metres apart from others.

Summary:

·       National lockdown restrictions were lifted on 2 December and replaced with local tiers. Slough entered tier 3, West Berkshire tier 2

·       West Berkshire has had 1,745 confirmed cases of Covid-19 so far and 80 of those had been over the last 7 days (30 November – 6 December)

·       The weekly rate was 50.5 per 100,000 population. This was at 27.3 for those aged 60+.

·       There had been 144 Covid-19 related deaths in West Berkshire since the start of the outbreak. 2 deaths were recorded between 14-20 November.

Vaccinations:

·       Vaccinations do not give individuals the disease. Instead, they teach the body’s immune system to recognise and fight the infection.

·       Pfizer/ BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was approved by the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on 2 December

·       The vaccine had been through all the usual vigorous vaccine regulations

·       Government has ordered 40m doses of the vaccine, enough to vaccinate 20m people.

·       Vaccine is given in 2 doses, 21 days apart, with the second dose being a booster

·       50 ‘hospital hubs’ initially chosen to serve as hubs for administering the vaccine- this is due to them having to store the vaccine at -70C

·       NHS England was working with GP Practices to support the deployment of the vaccine in primary care

·       It would take many months to vaccinate everyone so it is important to continue to follow Government guidance

Covid-19 vaccine prioritisation list:

1.    Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers

2.    Over 80’s, front line health workers

3.    Over 75’s

4.    Over 70’s and clinically extremely vulnerable groups

5.    Over 65’s

6.    Under 65’s with underlying health conditions

7.    Over 60’s

8.    Over 55’s

9.    Over 50’s