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Agenda item

Covid-19 situational report

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

Minutes:

Following the Declarations of Interest (Agenda Item 3), the Chairman invited Matt Pearce to comment on the recent rise in Covid cases in West Berkshire and how future infections could be avoided. Matt Pearce explained that since mid-April, there had been a steady rise in Covid-19 cases in West  Berkshire. The latest weekly rate (data released 20 May) was 37.2 per 100,000 population, which was higher than the regional and national averages. 

He highlighted the following points:

i)             The current infection rate was much lower than at the peak of the second wave when it was 430 per 100,000 population (600 cases per week). Community transmission was also lower than in the second wave and was lower than current rates in Bolton and Blackburn.

ii)            The increase in cases was not translating to increased hospital admissions or deaths. This reflected the success of the vaccination programme, which was estimated to have saved 13,000 lives in the UK and have kept 40,000 people out of hospital.

iii)           Many of the recent cases in West Berkshire were amongst children and younger adults. While any increase in cases was undesirable, children were rarely seriously affected by Covid.

iv)           Due to the relatively low rate, any large outbreaks caused numbers to fluctuate significantly. If a recent outbreak at a school was removed from the figures, then West Berkshire’s rate would be close to the national average.

He noted that Covid-19 would be present for some time, so we would need to learn to live with it and taken precautions to protect ourselves and others. While the easing of restrictions has brought much-needed relief, it was likely that the rate would rise as people mixed more.

He stressed the need for people to play their part and get vaccinated when offered, since evidence showed that two doses provided the best protection. He emphasised the importance of regular testing using lateral flow devices and highlighted ways to obtain these. He also urged people to continue to follow Government guidance of ‘hands, face, space and fresh air’.

He provided reassurance that the Council and its partners were doing everything they could – monitoring data, looking at trends, making use of other intelligence from contact tracing and the community, and working with high-risk settings.

He concluded by thanking all those who had worked hard to keep people safe.

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

·         West Berkshire’s infection rates were higher than those in the other Berkshire authorities and higher than the South East and England averages;

·         For the week to 18 May:

o   1.3 percent of test results were positive;

o   There were 34.1 cases per 100,00 population (all ages);

o   There were 7.5 cases per 100,000 population (age 60+), which had remained unchanged from the previous week;

o   There had been 54 cases of which 20 were related to a large outbreak at a primary school.

·         The number of cases had fluctuated significantly in the last few weeks.

·         Current infection rates were well below the peak at the start of the year.

·         The heat map showed the highest infection rates amongst 5–10 year olds.

·         There was a correlation between infections amongst children aged 0-15 and adults aged 30-44, which implied household transmission between children and parents.

·         44 percent of local exposure events were in an education setting.

·         Contact tracing was being used to triangulate the information and identify where the risks were.

·         82 percent of common exposure events were in education settings.

·         The data did not show that schools were unsafe and it was important to remember that children had not yet been vaccinated.

·         Data showed that the number of LFD tests carried out in West Berkshire was higher than the national and regional averages and could therefore be picking up more asymptomatic cases.

·         There were two patients in the Royal Berkshire Hospital with Covid, with two new admissions in the last 7 days. No patients were on mechanical ventilation.

·         There had  been no Covid related deaths recorded in Royal Berkshire Hospitals since 7 May.

·         West Berkshire’s all-cause mortality rate was 16 percent higher than the previous 5 year average (equivalent to 233 additional deaths).

·         Further information was available on www.berkshirepublichealth.co.uk.

Councillor Steve Masters asked if there would continue to be an underlying rate of Covid or could a zero rate be achieved. Matt Pearce suggested that it was likely there would be an underlying presence of Covid for the foreseeable future. He stressed the importance of minimising transmission of variants of concern.

Councillor Masters asked if there had been more referrals for Long-Covid. Matt Pearce confirmed that did not yet have the data, but he had contacted Public Health England and they were going to send him the latest modelling.

The Chairman noted that people in their 30s and 40s were currently being vaccinated, and many were not currently protected. He noted that the data implied that children were bringing Covid home and passing it to their parents, but asked for confirmation that once the 30-44 age group was vaccinated, their children would not infect them. Matt Pearce confirmed that was correct. He highlighted the low infection rate amongst older residents, which showed the vaccination programme had been successful. He expected infection rates to fall amongst other age groups as more people were vaccinated. He agreed it was likely that infections amongst the 30-44 age group would be predominantly parents of schoolchildren. He stressed the need for parents to regularly test themselves, since primary school children were not routinely tested.

Councillor Lynne Doherty asked if the data only showed recorded tests and suggested that residents were not always recording the results. Matt Pearce confirmed the figures were for recorded tests only and stressed the importance of residents recording test results on the NHS website, and getting a confirmatory PCR test if the LFD test was positive. This ensured that the Contract Tracing system was alerted, so others could be protected who may have been in contact with them.