Today’s update includes
- World Health Day
- Updates, Requests and Offers from the Stroud Coronavirus Community Response team and beyond
- Summary of local news
- Key national/international points
World Health Day
Today is World Health Day and we’ve been sharing graphics from the World Health Organisation. Find out more about World Health Day on the WHO website.
- “Today, 7 April, marks World Health Day and this year WHO pays tribute to the incredible contribution of all health workers, especially nurses and midwives. Nurses are the largest component of the health workforce and play a fundamental role in combatting COVID-19 and achieving Universal Health Coverageand the Sustainable Development Goals. WHO has published the first-ever report on the state of the world’s nursing workforce. It renews calls on governments to invest in nurses.”
- “WHO, Lady Gaga and Global Citizen have announced a concert to air on Saturday, 18 April 2020 titled ‘One World: Together at home’. This globally televised and streamed special will highlight unity among all people affected by COVID-19, celebrate the brave healthcare workers doing life-saving work, and raise funds for the response.”
- “WHO Director-General Dr Tedros, in a press conference held yesterday, reiterated concerns regarding the shortage of medical masks and other PPE and reminded people that masks should be used as part of a comprehensive package of interventions. WHO has released guidance on the use of masks in communities, during home care, and in healthcare settings that can be found here; further advice for the public can be found here.”
Updates from the Stroud Coronavirus Community Response team and beyond
- We shared details of new online “Keeping Strong” Barnwood Trust grants for people with a disability and/or mental health problems: https://www.barnwoodtrust.org/grantsforyou/
- And “Small Sparks” grants to help community-led responses to COVID-19 and grants to organisations: https://www.barnwoodtrust.org/keepingstrong/
- We shared details of the variety of free online services offered by Gloucestershire Libraries.
- We shared a special update for parents on when to call 999, take your child to A&E, a GP, or call 111 or you pharmacist.
- Confident Dental & Implant Clinic shared their new Gloucestershire Dental Free Advice Group
- Please complete our questionnaire to be added to oura Local Services Directory! We are particularly looking for people who are emergency maintenance/repair folk like plumbers/gas engineers etc. The form allows you to list a price for services – we are not expecting everyone to volunteer
- If you have an annexe or liveable summer house you can offer or you need to move (to keep someone/yourself safe) please join the Stroud housing offers and requests Facebook group
- If you would like to offer or receive (or both) some talking/listening time please join the Stroud Co-listening in Coronavirus Times Facebook group and introduce yourself and what you’d like to offer and/or receive.
Local updates
- “The number of people who have died in Gloucestershire since they tested positive for coronavirus has risen to 47. It means that eight more people have died in the county in the past 24 hours – an increase on the 39 deaths reported yesterday, Monday April 6.” (Gloucestershire Live article)
- “Gloucestershire’s health chief Sarah Scott has given her advice on the best way for people should follow lockdown guidance.” (Gloucestershire Live)
- “Tewkesbury Community Hospital will be turned into a coronavirus-only unit due to a rise in local demand. The local NHS said the change is being made as the number of patients in the county needing hospitalisation due to the coronavirus is increasing. All other services at the site such as Minor Injuries and Illness Unit, day surgery and outpatients, have ceased to enable Tewkesbury Community Hospital to support covid-19 patients only.” (Gloucestershire Live)
- “Gloucestershire County Council said the adult social care sector has been hit by Covid-19 and estimated 15 per cent of frontline care staff are unable to do their jobs because they’re self-isolating. The authority now wants to bring in new care workers into the department quickly via a fast track recruitment programme in order to keep the county’s most vulnerable people safe.” (Stroud News and Journal)
- “The Royal National Institute of Blind People has warned that some people with sight loss are struggling to get food as they have been excluded from priority access to online shopping. NHS Digital data shows that 3,475 people in Gloucestershire were registered as being blind or partially sighted in March 2017 – the latest figures available. Of those, 1,195 were recorded as being blind or severely sight impaired.” (Stroud News and Journal)
- “Cheltenham Festivals have made the sad announcement that the Music Festival has unfortunately had to be cancelled amid coronavirus concerns… Despite this sad news, Cheltenham Festivals did say that the highly-anticipated Cheltenham Literature Festival in October would be ‘expanded to include some of the most popular elements of the Jazz, Science and Music Festivals.’” (Gloucestershire Live)
- Stroud Sacred Music Festival announced that they have postponed the whole festival by a year until 2nd July 2021, saying “it would, we feel, be irresponsible to do otherwise”.
National:
- “As of 9am 7 April, 266,694 tests have concluded, with 14,006 tests on 6 April. 213,181 people have been tested of which 55,242 tested positive. As of 5pm on 6 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 6,159 have sadly died.” (Department of Health and Social Care tweet)
- This means there were 3,634 new cases confirmed yesterday, and 786 people died.
- The BBC’s Fergus Walsh made a 6 minute film inside intensive care at University College Hospital in London as medics treat patients with coronavirus. The patients are of ages from 40s to 70s, and as well as people with underlying health conditions include otherwise healthy patients. Twelve hour shifts and 60 hour weeks are the norm. The short film is really worth watching.
Global Summary
- Worldwide cases pass 1.4m, at least 80,000 people have died (80,759) and nearly 300,000 recovered (297,934)
- There are now 17 countries with over 10,000 confirmed cases (Johns Hopkins University tracker)
- “Doctors have found tentative evidence that seriously ill coronavirus patients can benefit from infusions of blood plasma collected from people who have recovered from the disease… Two teams of medics working at separate hospitals in China gave antibody-rich plasma to 15 severely ill patients and recorded striking improvements in many of them.”
- Denmark: “Daycare nurseries, kindergartens and primary schools will reopen in Denmark from 15 April, its prime minister has said, making it the second European country after Austria to unveil its plans for a gradual easing of restrictions”
- Norway: “joins Denmark and Austria in making plans to emerge from the lockdown conditions”
- Italy: “marked the lowest day-to-day increase in new infections since it was quarantined… New cases rose by 0.9% to 880, and that number was outstripped by the 1,555 increase in the number of people who recovered. To date, the overall number of cases in Italy has reached 135,586, including 17,127 deaths and 24,392 recovered”
- Turkey: “number of coronavirus infections is increasing by more than 3,000 a day, reaching 30,217 since the first case was confirmed four weeks ago”
- Africa: “Cases of Covid-19 in Africa have now topped 10,000… More than 1,700 of these are in South Africa, which has been rolling out an aggressive testing campaign” (above all from Guardian liveblog)
- France: “The French capital has banned daytime outdoor exercise.” (BBC News)
Please remember we have a (growing) list of resources to support your emotional and mental health during this time on our website.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this update via our Facebook group.