Agenda item

To consider a presentation from the Service Director – Communities and Wellbeing.

The Board considered a presentation from Matt Pearce (Agenda Item 6) concerning the Covid-19 Situational Report. Key points from the presentation were as follows:

·         There had been a significant increase in Covid-19 cases.

·         1.1 percent of test results were positive in the most recent period.

·         The rate was 30.9 cases per 100,000 population compared with 25.9 per 100,000 in the previous week.

·         These figures were higher than national and regional averages.

·         There had been 49 cases in West Berkshire in the last 7 days, but data just released showed this had fallen back to below 30.

·         Numbers of cases remained low, so any increases appeared as large swings in the data.

·         Cases had doubled from the previous week, with school pupils accounting for 41 percent of cases in the most recent week.

·         There had been a single outbreak of 10 cases in one school and an increase in cases amongst 16-18 year olds in recent weeks.

·         There were no geographical ‘hotspots’ in Covid-19 cases, with a maximum of 1-4 cases per Lower Super Output Area.

·         There had been 252 Covid-19 related deaths during the pandemic, but none since the end of March.

·         Since the beginning of the pandemic, there had been an 18 percent increase (247 deaths) in all-cause mortality compared to the 5-year average.

·         Death rates were currently in line with expected levels.

·         There had only been one new admission as of 7 May across all Royal Berkshire Foundation Trust hospitals.

The Chairman noted that the effects of Covid-19 were less severe due to the number and age of those vaccinated. He asked about the long-term impacts of living with Covid-19. Matt Pearce agreed that the rise in community transmission was not yet resulting in hospital admissions or deaths and that younger people were less at risk. He acknowledged that there were still unknowns around ‘long-Covid’. He stressed the importance of continuing with restrictions and following the Government ‘roadmap’. Also, he noted that there was a risk of new variants with increased community transmission. He suggested that a threshold would be achieved beyond which we would be ‘living with Covid’. Meradin Peachey agreed that Covid would not go away completely. She confirmed that there was a lot of research into long-Covid, and NHS services would be altered to account for this. She noted that research suggested that children from low-income families were falling further behind academically. She suggested that resources would need to be tailored to reflect research findings. She noted that the ‘resilient communities’ approach adopted by West Berkshire focused on what communities could do for themselves.

Councillor Lyne Doherty asked, in relation to recent outbreaks, whether schools were doing anything differently and if there was any obvious contributory factor. Matt Pearce indicated that it was often difficult to identify what was driving transmission, since schools were mostly compliant with the guidance. He suggested that the more potent Kent variant was going through schools. He observed that pupils were being tested frequently, although the testing rate in West Berkshire was lower than in other parts of England and stressed the importance of parents as well as pupils being regularly tested.

Councillor Doherty noted the planned move to Step 3 of the Government’s roadmap on 17 May and suggested that messages should be sent out in advance of the change to ensure that residents took accountability for continuing to drive numbers down. She asked what else should be done to prepare for the change. Matt Pearce suggested that with indoor mixing, people should increase ventilation, maintain distance, wash their hands regularly and continue with regular testing. He stated that Government would advise when restrictions could be relaxed as the evidence of the impact of the vaccine became clear. Sean Murphy observed that all positive cases were investigated carefully, but within schools these were mostly isolated cases, with only one significant outbreak. Regarding the move to Step 3 of the roadmap, he stated that the Public Protection Partnership was working with businesses to ensure that the required measures were in place, but stressed that the public had a role to play in complying with the rules in order to make premises as secure as possible.

Councillor Steve Masters asked if there was an issue with younger children not understanding the risks and if the risks decreased with older children. Matt Pearce indicated that risks had to be weighed against education benefits. He acknowledged that it was difficult to keep younger children socially distanced. While primary school children were not regularly tested, secondary school pupils were being tested. He confirmed that parents of primary school pupils were being encouraged to test themselves regularly. 

Councillor Masters asked what was being done to increase the testing rate amongst school pupils. Matt Pearce suggested that this may be due to the lower infection rates in West Berkshire. He indicated that people were being made aware of how they could access testing and it was being made as easy as possible to get tests through the ‘community collect’ scheme, the mobile service and the pharmacy service. Also, people were being educated that they had a role to play to regularly test themselves, even if they were not displaying symptoms.