Agenda item

The Director of Public Health will give a presentation on the current situation in relation to Covid-19 including recovery plans. This item will be in presentation format to ensure that the most up to date information can be presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board.

The Director of Public Health gave a presentation on the

current situation in relation to Covid-19 including recovery plans.

This item was in presentation format to ensure that the most up

to date information can be presented to the Health and Wellbeing

Board.

Key points raised in the presentation included:

·        Covid case rates in York had fallen slightly, although this was likely due school half-terms and a decline in testing. However, this fall had been reversed and rates were increasing in York, regionally and nationally.

·        The case rate stood at 426.5 per 100,000, which represented 900 new cases of Covid in the last 5 days, which was not the highest in Yorkshire and the Humber, but was above both regional and national averages.

·        An analysis of this saw a majority of cases in children and younger people, with the 5-9, 10-14 and 40-44 age groups in which cases were concentrated. This that the majority of infections were in school outbreaks and household transmission, which was in line with national trends.

·        A steady increase in the number of cases for those over 65 had been observed, which was worrying in light of the high prevalence of pre-existing conditions and likelihood of the need for hospital admittance for that age group. The reason for this was likely vaccine complacency in coming forward in the misunderstanding that being vaccinated makes one totally immune to the virus. Finally, it was possible that immunity in older people was waning since they were the ones who had first received that vaccine, which highlighted the need for Covid booster vaccine.

·        Hospitals were similarly busy as they were in December 2020, although there had not been a sudden spike as in previous waves, there had been a slow and steady increase.

·        As of 14/11/21, just under 87% of the over-16 population in York had received the first dose, and just over 82% had received their second dose. Vaccines 12-15 year olds were currently being rolled out, with around 41% having received the vaccine.

·        41,000 eligible residents in York had received the booster vaccination.

·        A winter campaign, named #YorkTogether, was planned, which was to remind residents and visitors that the pandemic had not abated and to promote the wearing of facemasks, handwashing, symptom-free testing and working from home.

In response to questions from members, it was noted that:

·        It was important to ensure that flu vaccinations remained available, the uptake of which had been good this year.

·        Contact tracing sign-ins for shops, restaurants, etc. had greatly reduced since government legislation requiring it expired. However, under the ‘Plan B’ arrangements considered by Government, people will be mandated to prove their Covid status, in showing proof of vaccination or a negative test. This was due to changes in rules in requirements of self-isolation when vaccinated.

·        An IT solution was being worked on nationally for NHS Covid apps which did not register a third booster dose, although timescales for this were unknown.

Resolved:

i.             That the contents of the update be noted.

Reason: To enable the Health and Wellbeing Board to remain updated on the Covid-19 pandemic.