Neighbourhood information needed to help combat Corona

The Council’s step to encourage volunteering is welcome.

But better coordination of the resources available is needed at neighbourhood level.

Those “self isolating” want to know which local shops are offering home delivery.

Residents need confirmation of which pharmacies are offering home delivery and with what capacity (any gaps could be filled by volunteers).

The Foxwood Residents Association is offering free social media and noticeboard publicity to local shops that

a) will deliver to doorsteps

b) accept remote payment – inclusive of delivery – by PayPal, card or bank transfer

c) Will take orders by email, phone or “on line” web site.

Any stores accepting contactless payments, and collection of food from a prearranged “in store” location (by volunteers), will also be acknowledged.

The Council needs to check and publicise regularly the availability of “on line” delivery slot availability at local branches of major supermarkets.

The Council could also coordinate the provision lists of stock shortages, of essential items, at local supermarkets. This would prevent unnecessary journeys

Westfield school partially closed from today – early years affected

Westfield Community Primary School in York has made the decision to partially close school from Wednesday 18th March.

The closure will affect the Early Years Foundation Stage and will mean that the Nursery and Reception Pupils will not be able to attend school.

The school will remain open for Years 1-6

Westfield school web site click

Message from York Council to volunteers

We want to make sure that support is directed to where it’s most needed, whether delivering food parcels, providing information, or sharing tasks like shopping or picking up medications.

“The physical and emotional health of residents is of the upmost importance and we are introducing a process to register, train and support volunteers.

“Volunteering tasks can also be done remotely for those who are not able to meet people. Examples include speaking to people on the phone or registering enquiries.

“The situation continues to evolve rapidly and therefore we are having to move fast. The Council will be contacting partners across the voluntary sector to discuss how best work together to make the most of available funding and support those most in need.

“Anyone interested in volunteering throughout this period should email volunteering@york.gov.uk and we will send more details direct. Alternatively please call the Customer Centre on 01904 551 550 and register your interest with the volunteer scheme.”

Corona (COVID-19) update – effect on west York

The government has relaxed delivery restrictions on supermarkets. Click link. It means that deliveries can be made at any time of the day or night. Most local stores have their own delivery yards but neighbours of, for example, Morrisons on Green Lane may see lorries serving the store later at night.

Local residents associations have suggested that lists of local shops and takeaways who can deliver to these self isolating should be drawn up. They want to see a local neighbourhood coordinator appointed by the Council.

In the meantime they’re offering to publicise any local business that will accept remote orders (phone/email/online), pay electronically, and deliver to a doorstep. (Email Foxwoodra@btinternet.com)

Elsewhere community networks are getting established to deal with any escalation in the numbers confined to their own homes. The Leeds Council are, for example, taking steps to provide community support to safe and professional standards. click

Volunteer groups like #ViralKindness are also springing up.

Update from York Council on Corona virus

The Authority has now issued the following advice to Councillors;

“We continue to closely monitor the latest national advice and are in regular contact with Public Health England.

Of course, our priority is the health and wellbeing of staff, residents and visitors to our offices.

As usual, our incredible cleaning teams thoroughly clean council offices every night with disinfectant which kills germs and is effective against viruses. As ever, this will continue in line with best practice and public health advice.

Before you use your desk space and, as an extra precaution, please wipe your desk, keyboard and phone using the antibacterial wipes provided. Please also use the gel provided and ensure it and the wipes remain in place for colleagues to use.

We are continuing to share the national advice with council staff, partners, care homes, social care settings as well as schools, colleges and universities.

The health advice from the Government remains the same as yesterday:

If you have symptoms (a fever or persistent cough), government advice is that you now stay at home for at least 7 days. See www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Use the 111 coronavirus service if:

you feel you cannot cope with your symptoms at home
your condition gets worse
your symptoms do not get better after 7 days

Only call 111 if you cannot get help online. Don’t go to your GP or A&E.

Advice on staying at home is available at www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-advice/

We will continue to keep you updated as much as we can, and ask that you keep looking at and signpost people to www.nhs.uk/coronavirus for the latest health information and advice.

There has been updated travel advice on school trips. Government guidance advises against all overseas trips for children under 18. It does not advise against domestic trips at this stage. We are in close and regular contact with all schools.

Foreign office travel advice for the general public is available at www.gov.uk/guidance/foreign-travel-checklist. Advice on specific countries is available at www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice.

It is inevitable that someone you know will follow the latest health advice and self-isolate. We ask that everyone respects their privacy and protects their identity. They are doing the right and responsible thing by following government advice, and it is important we all support them as much as we can”.

The Council have also now produced a more comprehensive briefing which can be downloaded from this link

This is a link to a US advice list https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/home/get-your-household-ready-for-COVID-19.html

New Covid-19 (coronavirus) case in York

It is understood that this case came about as a result of travel to northern Italy.

The individual “followed all necessary health advice and has been in self-isolation at home” and the authorities say “here is a very low risk of the virus having been transferred to anyone in York”.

The Council expects that more confirmed cases in York over the next weeks and months as the virus spreads across the country.

“The council and our partners have well established plans in place and are working closely together to ensure that we are best placed to respond to local issues as they arise”.

No details of which neighbourhood the victim lives in have been released.

Council Budget passed

The York Council approved the LibDem/Green budget last night

In an unconnected development, the Council is today inviting residents to sign up for FREE suicide prevention training workshops in the City

People are being encouraged to sign up for free suicide prevention training workshops in York next month as part of the #TalkSuicide campaign from local NHS and council organisations.

The Humber, Coast and Vale Health and Care Partnership is hosting two workshops in York on Tuesday, 10^th March 2020 at Mariott Room, York Library, Library Square, York YO1 7DS – and members of the public are invited to attend to learn life-saving skills.

These one-hour workshops, which will run between 9.30am-10.30am and 11am-12pm, are free to attend but it is essential to register beforehand. You can register at bit.ly/talksuicideyork.

There were 6,507 registered suicides in the UK in 2018 – which amounts to one death by suicide every 80 minutes. Yorkshire and Humber had some of the highest rates of suicide in England in 2018.

The suicide prevention workshops will be group training sessions, including interactive video-based training from the Zero Suicide Alliance and discussion with people who work in suicide prevention within our local community. Free refreshments will be available.

Completing the training at the workshop will help you to:

Identify the signs of when someone might be suffering from suicidal thoughts.
Feel comfortable speaking out about suicide in a supportive manner.
Signpost anyone suffering from suicidal thoughts to the correct services and support.

The workshops are part of the Partnership’s #TalkSuicide campaign, which aims to reduce the stigma around talking about suicide by raising awareness about suicide in our communities and encouraging our people to complete suicide prevention training.

Jo Kent, Suicide Prevention Lead for the Humber, Coast and Vale Health and Care Partnership, said: “Every death by suicide is a tragedy and in Humber, Coast and Vale we are working collaboratively with the NHS, councils, voluntary organisations and other groups to prevent suicides from happening in our communities.

“The suicide prevention training is integral to this work as those who complete the training can make a real difference in their communities, simply by being better placed to identify those people who might be suicidal, and knowing what to say to them and signposting them to the most appropriate services.

“We want to train as many people as possible in our communities so if you can spare an hour on the morning of Tuesday, 10^th March please register for one of the free suicide prevention training workshops taking place in York – the skills you learn could help you save someone’s life in the future.”

Can’t attend either of the York workshops? Workshops are also being held in Scarborough, Beverley, Hull, Scunthorpe and Grimsby during March. Visit talksuicide.co.uk to find out when these workshops are taking place.

You can also complete the training on the talksuicide.co.uk website, where you can also find out more about the #TalkSuicide campaign.

Fewer people visiting A & E at York hospital

Waiting times still stubbornly high

The latest NHS figures for January reveal that there were just over 17,000 presentations at the York Hospital Accident and Emergency unit.

Although there is usually a peak in winter, this number is down on the 19,683 who presented during August last year. ,

One in four (24.8%) patents attending had to wait for over 4 hours to have their needs addressed. That is more than the national average of 18.3%.

We believe that the Councils Health Scrutiny Board should consider performance reports like these – covering the public services most likely to be used by residents – at their monthly meetings.

Coronavirus Update

Update 1600 hrs 2nd Feb 2020: The Council has now shared a briefing with Councillors which they say can be shared with residents. We’ll leave the Councillors to dissemination the information as they judge necessary. The papers do confirm that the infected couple appear to have had few contacts in the City and none on the University campus. The bulletin still fails to say when the couple arrived in the City and which locations they visited.

Today’s developments

York University has said that the ill student, who has a confirmed case of the virus, was not on campus or in student accommodation either before or after they displayed symptoms (suggesting that they had recently arrived in the country, although this is not confirmed).

Apparently the Department of Health and Social Care, working with Public Health England, are quoting patient confidentiality as the reason why the movements of the affected victims have not been revealed.

Usually patients will waive their rights regarding the revelation of their movements.

It is perhaps easier to understand why the names of those concerned may be withheld, not least because it may deter others with similar symptoms from coming forward.

We understand that the Councils Public Health Director has now issued a confidential briefing to Councillors. Why it should be regarded as confidential is anyone’s guess.

At least one Councillor is understood to be asking searching questions about progress being made on finding recent arrivals from China who may be in York.

Questions are also being asked about the need to deploy hand sanitisers in public buildings in the City.

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