This update includes:
- Information about changes we’ve made to our group and website
- A call out for help
- Summary of local news
- Key national/international points
Team updates:
- #ClapForOurCarers, which we had promoted, was successful in Stroud! A short video available here if you missed it. Annemarie Plas, the woman behind it all, explained what inspired the idea in a video published by the BBC.
- Amplify Stroud, a new , posted a video on the response to coronavirus around Stroud, featuring one of our admins – James Beecher – Robin Layfield from the Rodborough Mutual Aid Network, Eleanor Salter from the France Lynch support group, and Stroud District Council Leader Doina Cornell. The video is 6 minutes long and well worth your time!
- Amplify Stroud also published a fuller video interview with James Beecher, covering the work Stroud Coronavirus Community Response is doing in more detail – including an overview of the hygiene guidelines we recommend.
- We started a new unit collecting posts on spotting and avoiding misinformation and scams. Please take a look at this important information – and share it with others who may be vulnerable to attempts to mislead them.
Calls out from the Team
We are currently looking for people who can offer a few hours of help a week with our WordPress website.
We also have a call out for qualified, experienced, DBS-checked tutors who would like to be listed through our network as providing paid or voluntary online tutoring.
Local updates:
- “There are now 57 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 [in Gloucestershire], up from 49 yesterday morning. Many are being treated in isolation wards at Cheltenham General Hospital or Gloucestershire Royal Hospital” (Gloucestershire Live report)
- 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.
- The Minor Injury and Illness Unit (MIIU) at The Vale Hospital near Dursley will close temporarily. Inpatient services at the hospital are unaffected. The nearest alternative is Stroud Hospital’s MIIU, which will be open 8am-6pm daily from Monday 30th March.
- Details of how to order for collection from Stroud Farmers Market – operating under a new system to reduce risk of tranmission – have been published. A good proportion of the producers are continuing to offer food, please support them if you are able to.
- The Shambles Market will take place tomorrow, although it will have essential food stalls only. Social distancing measures will be in place.
- We heard that “The team at Fifth Dimension & Go Bananas have had a successful day providing 56 meals around Stroud. We will be providing more meals tomorrow free of charge so please drop us a message if you are in need of our help or know of anyone that is”
- StroudCo Foodhub is looking for volunteers to help them get their online food ordering and a new delivery system up and running
- Construction work will be suspended on Five Valleys Shopping Centre (previously known as Merrywalks), according to a Stroud News and Journal article, quoted Amanda Holmes, from Dransfield Properties who said: “This is being done in a safe and orderly manner and work will be temporarily suspended by the end of this week at the latest, we will then await further guidance from the Government that it’s safe to resume work.”
National:
- The government announced a new scheme for Self-Employed people. We posted about this, with a link to the official information as it stands. “Individuals should not contact HMRC now. HMRC will use existing information to check potential eligibility and invite applications once the scheme is operational.” We will post any further updates from HMRC as soon as possible.
- “The number of people in the UK who have died with coronavirus has jumped by more than 100 in a day for the first time.” (BBC News) The number of people who have died is now 578 (103 more than yesterday 475)
- “A total of 104,866 people have been tested, of whom 93,208 tested negative and 11,658 were positive.” (From the same BBC link as above)
International:
- The WHO confirmed via its daily situation report, that there are now 413, 467confirmed cases (up 40,712 since yesterday).
- 18,433 people have died as a result of the pandemic (2,202 people died yesterday
- The above statistics are taken from the World Health Organisation daily Situation Report, which also includes further information about the situation in different countries.
- The WHO’s Information Network for Epidemics (EPI-WIN) website: www.who.int/epi-win, “gives people access to timely, accurate, and easy-to-understand advice and information from trusted sources on the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, translating scientific information to actionable information.”
Please remember we have a (growing) list of resources to support your emotional and mental health during this time on our website.
If you submit posts to our Facebook group, we will often decline posting them to the discussion directly and instead hold them till the single daily summary – to try to reduce the number of posts in the feed and make it easier for people to manage the volume of information. Please continue to submit posts to admins for this purpose.