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Agenda item

A Report from the Health Protection Board on current issues, data and matters for information, including a presentation on the Testing Plan.

Minutes:

The Board received a Report from the Health Protection Board on current issues, data and matters for information.

 

Matters included in the Report were as follows:

 

       Nationally case numbers had been decreasing as were the number of deaths and people in hospital;

       Devon had the lowest number of rates across the whole of UK;

       Community transmission – cases had been seen in working groups and in work places/education settings;

       National statistics – there had been an overall decline in cases (27% fall);

       There had been a fall in deaths nationally;

       Testing capacity remained high nationally;

       In Devon – there were 475 cases in the past week (59.2 rates per 100,000), with the national rate being 202 per 100,000 – Devon was the lowest in country;

       Devon had seen a reduction of cases in over 60s;

       Deaths in Devon – the past week had seen 24 deaths (3.0 per 100,000);

       Age patterns – there had been a decline in case rates across all age groups in Devon – the fall in the 80+ age category was particularly large, and this would have a positive impact on hospital pressures; and,

       6 of Devon’s Districts were the lowest in country outside of the Shetlands.

 

Further data and information could be found at:

 

Coronavirus dashboard and data in Devon - Coronavirus (COVID-19)

 

Daily summary | Coronavirus in the UK (data.gov.uk)

 

Interactive Map | Coronavirus in the UK (data.gov.uk)

 

 

A presentation on community testing was also received which highlighted the following matters:

 

       The target population was anyone who was required to leave the house to work, volunteers or those without symptoms;

       These were lateral flow tests which were free for the public, provided quick results, and could be used twice weekly;

       Testing sites – members of the public could book online, self swab, and receive their result via the national system using text/email;

       Principles of delivery – there was a focus on inequalities, looking at further fixed testing sites, but the system was also agile to scale up or down and change to any local or national context;

       Operational approach – there were several fixed sites across Devon and mobile units to cover rural areas;

       There were sites at County Hall Exeter, Barnstaple, Honiton, Newton Abbot, Tiverton, Exmouth Tavistock plus mobile sites in East Devon;

       Capacity – testing could be scaled up to test 5% of the Devon population if required. 120,00 tests were currently available – which equated to 37,000 per week and it was estimated that 150 would test positive;

       Learning – there had been a slow uptake, 1 positive test so far, and 63% of users had left feedback, which had been positive; and,

       Communication and engagement – clear messaging was essential, site opening details would be released once confirmed each site was viable and up and running.

 

Members asked questions in discussion as follows:

 

       Voluntary groups – engagement with hard to each groups and accessing testing centres was crucial.  Those that had been vaccinated could still be tested regularly and could access community testing sites and the Board welcomed support in communicating those messages to the hard to reach groups.

       Testing of early years and nursery schools, which were outside the general school offer. The national policy was that where a nursery was attached to a primary school, they were included in the lateral flow testing.  Concerns around independent nurseries being missed had been flagged nationally, and it was expected that a national decision was to be made shortly for them to be considered as part of home testing programme.

 

 


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