A verbal update will be given at the meeting
Minutes:
Jim McManus gave a presentation on the current Covid-19 situation in Hertfordshire.
Councillor Bhinder
said he had concerns that there are still some people who are not
wearing masks in shops and supermarkets and when it is mentioned to
the staff, they say they cannot enforce it.
J McManus said that the department is reminding retailers of the need for shoppers to wear masks. There is a group of trading standards and environmental health officers who are visiting shopping centres and retail premises to put up displays to remind people to wear masks, offer free masks and remind people that they can enforce mask wearing. If people refuse to wear a mask and they are not exempt from wearing one, they can be issued with a fixed penalty notice and if they continue to breach the rules, the penalty can be increased and it can eventually become a criminal offence. J McManus said he felt the vast majority of people are complying with mask wearing across Hertfordshire and we need to continue to share that message.
Councillor Silwal said he was concerned about children returning to school and asked if there were any plans to test children in schools.
J McManus said the Hertfordshire school plan is good and every school has been provided with guidance on how to open safely alongside cleaning and social distancing rules. We are not doing blanket testing as this is not necessary and would not generate effective results – you could test someone over two days and could have a negative result one day and a positive one the next. We will test when there is a need to. The emphasis in schools is working on measures to prevent the spread, self-isolate those with positive cases and contact pupils and staff through contract tracing. We are more worried about the 18-30 year olds who may think Covid-19 is over and may be spreading it.
Councillor Beauchamp referred to promoting and advertising in Dacorum and asked whether the Communications team at DBC had been approached to put a slide up on the screen in the town centre.
E Walker said the Communications team are working closely with colleagues at HCC and Public Health to push out the message and the screen in the town centre is being looked at.
Councillor Symington referred to the charts in the presentation that showed cases under 17 per 100,000. She asked if there was a point at which a local lockdown would be implemented.
J McManus said the team are trying to stop figures getting to an area of intervention and are handling it at a local level, we do not want bars and restaurants to close and cause disruption to the public’s lives. Measures to prevent the spread are simple; wash your hands frequently, wear a face covering, keep socially distanced and only socialise with those in your bubble. We do not want cases to exceed 30 cases per 100,000 although the level for a local lockdown is much higher. The figures will probably rise in the next few days but we do not want it to shoot up.
Councillor Allen asked about schools. He said he had received concerns from residents about a local secondary school that were admitting all students within a ten minute window. Is there any way that school plans can be reviewed to check they are compliant?
J McManus said there is a dedicated school team working full time on providing schools with guidance. Schools are able to contact the team for advice but it is not possible to monitor every school and student communities. The school itself needs to make sure it is abiding by the guidelines and does everything it can to prevent the spread. We need young people to realise that they might have a mild case but they can pass it on to older and more vulnerable people.
Councillor Allen asked if there was any way that residents can flag concerns so interventions can be made.
Jim McManus said the legal responsibility to meet the guidelines lies with the school, we can advise and support them and the vast majority are doing a great job. If someone is concerned, they can contact the governors or the headteacher at the school, Public Health at HCC or Environmental Health at DBC.
E Walker added that the environmental health team will be carrying out visits to high streets next week to follow up on any issues received and support businesses with their covid secure measures. Officers are working hard on contact tracing and have been supported by Public Health at HCC, this has been a great example of joint working across organisations. E Walker thanked J McManus for his support and assured members that the team are doing all they can to control the problem.
E Glatter asked when and where does the testing take place in Hemel Hempstead
J McManus said he would distribute the information after the meeting because this changes. When people register for a test, they are told where to go. This is for infection control purposes. Action: J McManus
E Glatter asked what the R rate was in Hertfordshire at the moment.
J McManus said the R rate at county level is unreliable. The rate in the East of England is hovering around 0.8-1.1 in some estimates where continued transmission is possible.
Councillor Bhinder asked how the R rate was measured.
J McManus said universities like Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial are modelling the R rate using different methods. It is not an exact science. The two national exercises of surveillance testing and symptom tracking is also fed into this.