We aim to share a daily summary each day – this includes:
- Information about updates we’ve made to our website and group
- Summary of local news
- Key national/international points
Team updates:
- The food response so far has been amazing – we have a Food page on our website, but haven’t been able to keep it fully updated with the enormous range of offers. Thanks to everyone for keeping us up to date – please keep letting us know about any new food arrangements you see, and we’ll get the website sorted on this ASAP.
- Will Mansell joined our team – he will be moderating and coordinating our new Food unit and initiatives in this area. In the Food unit is a two-page plan from The Long Table, and space to add organisational or unofficial offers of help.
- We posted new poster and flyer designs by Sarah Dixon which you can use to contact neighbours, ward off visitors, or show that your organisation is following hygiene guidance (we will also be adding these to the resources section of our website, where you can also find sharable graphics – an example in this post). We also shared posters designed specifically for those of us at more risk.
- We reposted the World Health Organisation Mythbusters.
- Both the Stroud Town Council Clerk, and Stroud District Council got in touch to co-ordinate and offer help, with the District Council Leader Doina Cornell outlining their current approach (you can read the latest Council statement and see the District Council page of guidance on their website.
Local updates:
- “Upton St Leonards C Of E Primary School announced on Facebook that it would be closed on Tuesday after a confirmed case of the coronavirus involving a family from the school.” This is effectively a second case in the district, though it is not yet included in the official figures. Reported in the Stroud News and Journal https://www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk/news/18308693.first-case-coronavirus-stroud/
- It is important to say that these two confirmed cases do not represent the only people with the virus in the community. 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. As our hygiene guidance says, we should act on the basis that anyone could be infected with the virus, and could be spreading it as a carrier while having no symptoms or very few symptoms.
- Gloucester Guildhall, Gloucester Museum and Blackfriars have been shut by the Gloucester City Council, in accordance with government advice to avoid unnecessary public gatherings (itself based on WHO advice). Reported in Gloucestershire Live https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/gloucester-guildhall-shut-down-council-3960227
- Cheltenham Jazz and Science Festivals have cancelled both events, reported in Gloucestershire Live: https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/cheltenham-jazz-science-festivals-cancelled-3959948
- The Stroud News and Journal has a page listing local intitiatives, including ours which covers the district: https://www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk/news/18311019.coronavirus-can-help-stroud-district/
National/International:
- “Less than a week after pledging £12bn in his budget to soften the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the chancellor admitted that the measures were insufficient”, “The chancellor Rishi Sunak has [now] announced a £350bn package of loans and grants to help Britain cope with the lockdown of large parts of the economy, as he warned the country was facing a threat to its prosperity unmatched in peacetime.”
- Mortgage lenders will offer a three month mortgage payment holiday to those struggling to pay:
- The death toll in Italy increased by 16% in the last 24 hours. 345 people died, and 2,503 have now died in Italy in total.
Apologies if we missed anything-please submit again or post in the comments below