COVID-19 Multi Agency Update â€“ Friday 3 April

Health leaders in Cumbria are urging the public to stay at home this weekend to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The call comes after national debate this week about what people are and are not allowed to do under lockdown.

They are stressing that following the ‘stay at home’ and social distancing guidance is the single most important thing people can do prevent the NHS being overwhelmed and save lives, with the risk that if people do not then the pandemic will last longer and cause further deaths.

Official figures show that 58 people have died across Cumbria’s two NHS Trust areas*.

Professor John Howarth, Strategic Incident Commander for North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust said:

“I can’t thank our communities enough for listening to the guidance to stay at home. We need to break the chain of transmission of this virus in our local communities.

“I know it is hard and many people are making difficult sacrifices but the message from me today is that you are saving lives now, right here in Cumbria, through your actions.

“Staying at home slows the transmission of coronavirus, and helps us reduce the number of cases we expect to see in the coming weeks and months.

“It’s important that everyone continues to follow this advice by staying at home and if you have to go out for essential purposes, please follow the guidance on social distancing.”

Dr Shahedal Bari, Medical Director, UHMBT who is also a Respiratory Consultant said:

"All the Government messages have asked people to stay at home and only leave if they are unable to work from home, need essential shopping, are caring for someone vulnerable or are exercising. Staying at home will save more lives and helps the NHS to care for those who need our help so please stay at home."

Colin Cox, Director of Public Health, said:

“I understand that some people might be getting frustrated by the current restrictions, but I cannot stress strongly enough that people should do the right thing and really limit their movement and contact with other people. There are some encouraging early signs that social distancing is having the effect we want, and that the spread of the virus may be slowing down. It’s not easy, but it’s a small sacrifice when set against the chance of spreading infection and people becoming seriously ill.

“This is about not pushing the limits of what the law permits, it’s about people acting responsibly and working together to protect their communities.”

Richard Leaf, Chief Executive Officer of the Lake District National Park Authority, said:

“The residents of the Lake District need the Great British Public to respect Government advice. Please do not travel to the National Park. An influx of day trippers coming into the park will inevitably mean people coming into close contact and we really should be avoiding that. Enjoy your weekends at home, the Lake District will be here for you when this is all over.”

Richard Warren, representing the twelve Cumbrian mountain rescue teams said:

“We cannot stress enough the importance of staying at home. Last weekend across the whole of England and Wales there were only four callouts, with just one in Cumbria. The fells remain quiet and we thank the public for heading the advice to stay at home, protect the NHS and save the lives.”

Cumbria County Council

Remember, all of Cumbria County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) are currently closed. Do not leave bags of waste outside the site. This is fly tipping, it is illegal and it uses staff and resources that could be helping with Coronavirus in a better way.

Fly-tipping includes leaving items outside charity shops, recycling bring sites, outside the boundary of your property or outside the now closed Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC).

A helpful new web page covering lots of information and FAQ’s about waste collection and recycling, is available to view here.

Please do not be tempted to burn your waste; particularly any household waste as this can cause environmental damage/pollution, generating smoke into the atmosphere; and therefore a health risk to those with respiratory problems and may result in the need for the fire service to attend; therefore drawing them away from more urgent need by the community.

Government advice is that waste from a house with cases of Covid-19 should be placed in a bag, which is then sealed, placed inside another bag, which is also sealed (so double-bagged but not both tied at the same time) and then stored for 72 hours before being put out for collection.

So the timing of the deposit of the waste into the residual waste bin is all important in order to protect staff.

Your community Recycling Bring Sites remain open for the time being. For those who use their Recycling Bring Sites please ensure that you rinse and place only those items listed in the containers for recycling. Try not to make special journeys to the sites, but use them when you go to do your shopping.

Please do not leave any items whatsoever around the sites (this is classed as fly-tipping) and please adhere to the social distancing when using the sites (2 metres apart). Please ensure you wash your hands as soon as you get home.

Allerdale Borough Council

Business support grants

Allerdale is continuing to administer the business support grants to those affected by the coronavirus, with payments now topping £5.5m.

As of yesterday (April 2, 2020) Government grants and other financial support, administered by Allerdale Borough Council, have been awarded to 491 businesses in the borough totalling £5.6m.

Some businesses need to apply for the support and can do so via the Council's website: https://www.allerdale.gov.uk/en/coronavirus/coronavirus-business-grants-claims/. So far 1,484 applications have been made.

Homelessness support

People who are homeless - or are at risk of becoming homeless - are being reassured by Allerdale Borough Council’s housing options team that the authority will continue doing everything it can to offer support to those who need it during the coronavirus situation.

The team is working hard to continue to find suitable housing options for those who are homeless, while trying to identify people who are sleeping rough on the streets of Allerdale.

Those who require support are asked to call the housing options’ phone number 01900 702660 (or 0303 123 1702 out of hours) if possible. Information is also available at https://www.allerdale.gov.uk/en/housing/homelessness/are-you-homeless/ or by emailling: homelessness@allerdale.gov.uk.

Cllr John Cook, Allerdale's Executive member with responsibility for tourism, is once again urging people to refrain from making necessary visits to the area and asks for people to follow the government's guidance to stay at home.

He said: "Allerdale is a fantastic place to visit and tourism obviously plays a large role in our economy. However, we are joining our partners in asking people to follow the government's advice not to make any non-essential journeys and come and visit the area.

"We will do whatever we can to help and support those tourism businesses affected by these events. But at the moment, we must all be responsible and follow the government guidance on social distancing and staying at home so that we protect each other from infection, especially the most vulnerable. By doing this we will also protect and support the local NHS services, so that they can do their job helping those who are sick."

Car park closures

The council is fully supportive of efforts by all partners in Cumbria to stop visitors coming to our area to avoid extra pressure on the local NHS and policing services.

Therefore selected car parks in Keswick will remain closed over the coming weekend. These will be Lakeside and Central car parks. The message is clear: Please do not visit. Stay at home and protect the NHS.

We announced last week that our car parks would be free for those who are leading efforts to tackle the coronavirus, such as NHS workers and local volunteers. This move also helps local residents making essential journeys for food and medicine. They also remain open for local residents who live nearby and use them to park near their homes. Our car parks should not be used by anyone else at this time.

Eden District Council

Eden District Council has restarted its garden waste collections. Eden’s waste collection services are running well at the moment.

Eden District Council has restricted the use of Zoom as a result of cyber-security concerns. Staff and members are still able to use the corporate Skype for Business system and investigations into upgrading to Microsoft Teams are ongoing.

Talks are ongoing with Cumbria Community Foundation about how we EDC can help support the message for their countywide covid-19 response fund, targeting charitable and community organisations.

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS

Guidance issued to women due to give birth

Expectant mums in north Cumbria have been contacted with the Trust’s latest maternity guidance surrounding COVID-19.

The guidance, including various frequently asked questions has been shared with mums via the maternity notes app which is the electronic portal the Trust uses for maternity notes.

Anna Stabler, Interim Chief Nurse at North Cumbria Integrated NHS Foundation Trust said:

“We know this is a particularly worrying time for expectant and new mums so we have been making sure women can get in touch with our midwives to discuss any queries they have as well as sharing regular updates through the maternity notes app. We also have a triage service for urgent enquiries too.

“We have developed a frequently asked questions leaflet for women in our care to answer the majority of common questions we are being asked which we sent out earlier this week.”

The guidance issued includes advice on antenatal care and classes, birthing partners, postnatal care, feeding and more.

“We’ve had lots of queries surrounding labour and who can come in to support expectant mums. When women attend in labour they can bring one birthing partner with them who can stay for the duration of labour. The same partner can then visit the postnatal ward but no other visitors will be permitted. If the birthing partner is displaying symptoms or isolating due to COVID-19 it would be advisable to consider an alternative birth partner. We also have procedures in place for mums who are displaying symptoms.

“We have had to make some changes to the service to ensure that we are able to maintain a good level of maternity care across the north of the county during the COVID-19 pandemic. A very small number of expectant mothers that had been due to give birth at home or at the birthing unit in Penrith will now receive high quality care from the midwifery team at the Cumberland Infirmary or West Cumberland Hospital or depending on their circumstances.

“Lots of babies are being born here in north Cumbria and our midwives are ready and here providing care and support to all during this special and exciting time for families.

“We would encourage expectant mums to continue to discuss their concerns with their midwife.”

The FAQ is available at: https://www.ncic.nhs.uk/application/files/8815/8590/7136/Maternity_FAQs.pdf

Covid support for 10 - 18 year olds #ThinkNinja

As a direct response to the COVID-19 crisis an app called ThinkNinja is being made freely available to all 10-18 year olds UK-wide for the duration of the crisis.

In addition, ThinkNinja has been extensively updated with specific COVID-19 support content. The new content is designed to bring self-help knowledge and skills to children and young people who maybe experiencing increased anxiety and stress during the crisis.

For more information about ThinkNinja and the new COVID-19 content visit: https://www.healios.org.uk/services/thinkninja1

To download and install:
Search "ThinkNinja" in Apple App Store or Google Play Store and install and then enter a few registration details.

When:

Type of content:

Category:

COVID-19 Multi Agency Update - Friday 3 April