This daily summary includes:
- Information about updates we’ve made to our website and group
- Call outs for help
- Summary of local news
- Key national/international points
Apologies – another long one!The key news today is that GOVERNMENT ADVICE HAS CHANGED:
- 14 days of self-isolation for a whole household if anyone displays symptoms of the disease
- Anyone who can work from home, should
- PM Boris Johnson: “Now is the time for everyone to stop non-essential contact with others and to stop all unnecessary travel. We need people to start working from home where they possibly can. And you should avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other such social venues”
- Johnson also “acknowledged that more action would probably be needed to protect low-paid workers, saying, “nobody should be penalised for doing the right thing”. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/16/pm-tells-britons-to-avoid-non-essential-contact-with-others). See our unit on personal finances for more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stroudcorona/learning_content/?filter=3410378225657256
- The full government guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response
There is specfic guidance for:
- Social distancing and for vulnerable people https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people
- Schools and other educational settings https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19
Team updates:
- We began a new unit on “Personal finances – loss of income, sick pay, benefits”. We know a lot of people are anxious about these issues – please comment on the post with question or suggestions: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stroudcorona/learning_content/?filter=3410378225657256
- Stroud resident in Spain Sarah Phaedre Watson wrote us a personal experience piece about what life is like under lockdown there: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stroudcorona/learning_content/?filter=764034657459669&post=230500194804409 (we welcome submissions like this if you would like to tell us about your particular circumstances and why you are in this group – though we can’t promise to publish everything)
- The neighbourhoods section of our website is slowly filling up with links to groups organised around the district: https://neighbournetworks.uk/neighbourhoods/
- We have a small crew of administrators and moderators and would love some more enthusiastic and meticulous moderators and researchers. We need help with checking submitted posts, updating units, checking comments fit within the guidelines and signposting people to parts of the website/group they may not have seen. We have a few moderators specifically for different units – but we’d love to have one for each unit. If you’d like to help out with a particular topic because you have expertise or an interest in it – let us know
Local updates:
- The “Number of coronavirus cases in Gloucestershire jumps to 10 with first case in Stroud” – reported in Gloucestershire Live (https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/number-coronavirus-cases-gloucestershire-jumps-3955511) and the Stroud News and Journal (https://www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk/news/18308693.first-case-coronavirus-stroud/)
It is important to say that these are confirmed cases only, and that since testing has been suspended for all cases but those needing hospitalisation, we do not have an accurate number for the actual number of cases in the community. It will be significantly higher.
- “On Wednesday between 9am and 11am Iceland will be opening for the elderly and vulnerable only.” (https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/iceland-stores-open-early-elderly-3955105). Lots more local food offers – which are being collated in a new unit (we’ll link tomorrow)
- Stroud Valleys Artspace is closing it’s bar and care and postponing all events until further notice (https://www.facebook.com/stroudvalleysartspace/photos/a.813298345400502/2988633711200277/)
- Playcircle, “have made the difficult decision to stop all Playcircle sessions until further notice” (link to their private group post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/playcircle/permalink/2702689666446510/)
National/International:
- The World Health Organization’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urged governments to continue tracking cases of the virus, saying, “test, test, test”. The UK promised to scale up testing but continues with a policy not to test suspected sufferers, including frontline health workers, unless they are being treated in hospital.
- “As of 9am on 16 March 2020, 44,105 people have been tested in the UK, of which 42,562 were confirmed negative and 1,543 were confirmed as positive.” (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public)
- You can track cases in the UK in a map/dashboard at: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html
- And track the global situation via a similar tool at: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html