Today’s update includes:
- Requests and Offers from the Stroud Coronavirus Community Response team and beyond
- Summary of local news
- Key national and international news
Requests and Offers from the Stroud Coronavirus Community Response team and beyond
- REQUEST. Tomorrow 28th April, 11am – please join the International Workers’ Memorial Day minute silence: Remember people who died doing their job
- Stroud Town Clerk has let us know that the government has issued new guidance to help the bereaved
- Amplify Stroud have done us a great service by visiting local supermarkets and sharing their personal experiences, reviewing what the different supermarkets in the area have been doing to adapt to the needs and pressures that coronavirus has created
- Sarah Dixon reinforces the request from a post yesterday… If you have health issues you CAN get them addressed safely and to please do use the available services, protected from the direct impacts of covid.
- We now have 4,225 members. Please encourage your local friends to join us. Let’s get fact-checked news about the coronavirus out to as many people in the area as we can, and make sure everyone in Stroud District who needs support can get it.
Local updates:
- “There have so far been 171 deaths from coronavirus in Gloucestershire, four more than yesterday afternoon. Of those who died, 148 were being treated at Gloucestershire Hospitals while 23 were being cared for through Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust. The total number of confirmed cases in Gloucestershire was put at 1,098 today – an increase of 14 since Saturday” (Gloucestershire Live)
- “281 patients who have been in hospital with coronavirus have now been discharged” (Stroud News and Journal)
- “The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed said the [government’s] support scheme does give generous support to millions across the country, but that more needs to be done to support the newly self-employed”. They identify that across the South West, at least “9,931 people became self-employed during the 2019-20 tax year”, and therefore may not be eligible for support. (Stroud News and Journal)
- Sainsbury’s is introducing changes… “Mike Coupe, Sainsbury’s CEO, said: “For elderly and vulnerable customers, we offer dedicated shopping hours between 08.00 and 09.00 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And NHS and social care workers can shop in our supermarkets from 07.30 to 08.00 Monday to Saturday before they open. We know that many of you are already shopping for friends, family and neighbours and we are very grateful to you for providing this community service… a Volunteer Shopping Card to make it easier for people to shop for others [is] now available online.” (Gloucestershire Live)
National news:
- “As of 9am 27 April, there have been 719,910 tests, with 37,024 tests on 26 April. 569,768 people have been tested of which 157,149 tested positive. As of 5pm on 26 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 21,092 have sadly died.” (Department of Health and Social Care pinned tweet)
- The figures above do not include deaths outside of hospitals. Chris Giles, the Economics Editor of the Financial Times who have made a model to estimate total UK deaths linked to coronavirus, believes the total number of people to have died in the UK is likely to be 44,000.
- More broadly, the Financial Times says “The death toll from coronavirus may be almost 60 per cent higher than reported in official counts, according to an FT analysis of overall fatalities during the pandemic in 14 countries. Mortality statistics show 122,000 deaths in excess of normal levels across these locations, considerably higher than the 77,000 official Covid-19 deaths reported for the same places and time periods.”
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the UK is at the point of “maximum risk”. “He said he understood concerns from business owners who were impatient to end the lockdown. But ending it too soon could lead to a second spike in cases and cause more deaths, “economic disaster” and restrictions being reintroduced, he said. “I ask you to contain your impatience,” Mr Johnson added.”
- “Families who have lost a loved one from coronavirus, because they were a frontline worker, will receive a payout, Matt Hancock has revealed. Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said in the daily No.10 briefing on Monday that these families will receive £60,000 in a life assurance scheme” (Heart)
- Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, was asked “What would be a realistic figure for deaths now? We have missed the target of keeping deaths below 20,000?” and said “the hospital death figure is already above that. He says the all-cause mortality figure will be higher. He says you have to look in the long run, “and this has got a very long way to run”, he says. He says that is why he is very cautious about putting numbers on likely deaths.” (The Guardian)
- “An urgent alert has been issued to doctors about a new coronavirus-related condition seen emerging in children. The warning says there has been an “apparent rise in the number of children of all ages presenting with a multi-system inflammatory state requiring intensive care across London and also other regions of the UK” over the last three weeks. The NHS England alert, shared by the Paediatric Intensive Care Society (PICS) on Sunday evening, adds: “There is a growing concern that [a Covid-19-related] inflammatory syndrome is emerging in children in the UK, or that there may be another, as yet unidentified, infectious pathogen associated with these cases.” (The Independent)
- “Asda staff are to be issued with face masks to help them “feel safer” during the coronavirus outbreak.” (The Grocer)
International developments:
- Confirmed cases of the virus pass 3 million (3,012,484), and more than 200,000 people have died (208,517), according to Johns Hopkins University tracker. (878,813 people have recovered).
- However, as mentioned above, The Financial Times says “The death toll from coronavirus may be almost 60 per cent higher than reported in official counts, according to an FT analysis of overall fatalities during the pandemic in 14 countries. Mortality statistics show 122,000 deaths in excess of normal levels across these locations, considerably higher than the 77,000 official Covid-19 deaths reported for the same places and time periods.”
- “As COVID-19 continues to spread globally, over 117 million children in 37 countries may miss out on receiving life-saving measles vaccine. Measles immunization campaigns in 24 countries have already been delayed; more will be postponed.” (World Health Organisation)
- “New Zealand says it has stopped community transmission of Covid-19, effectively eliminating the virus. With new cases in single figures for several days – one on Sunday – Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the virus was “currently” eliminated. But officials have warned against complacency, saying it does not mean a total end to new coronavirus cases”, as the country moves out of its current lockdown level.
- “Many shops outside shopping malls are reopening in the Czech Republic after the government brought forward its five-stage lockdown exit plan, amid reports that the British government is closely watching the country’s back-to-business strategy” (Guardian)
- “Italy has outlined plans to ease the restrictions it imposed seven weeks ago… measures would be relaxed from 4 May, with people being allowed to visit their relatives in small numbers. Parks, factories and building sites will reopen, but schools will not restart classes until September… the country recorded its lowest number of new confirmed cases since the outbreak began. There were 333 new virus-related deaths on Monday, a slight rise on the 260 recorded on Sunday, to a total of 26,977 – still the highest recorded toll in Europe.” (BBC News)
- “Germany’s federal states on Wednesday announced new measures in fight against the coronavirus, making it mandatory to wear cloth masks while shopping and in public transport, starting from April 27.” (Anadolu Agency)
Notes
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 helped create this update through our Facebook group. If you submit posts, 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 follow the information. Please continue to submit posts to admins for this purpose with a flag REQUEST / OFFER / UPDATE / QUESTION