Some key milestones:
- More than 200 people have now died with Covid-19 as an underlying cause in hospitals in Gloucestershire. This does not include people who have died in care homes or their own homes.
- More than 200,000 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK – this includes tests in hospitals and elsewhere.
- Over 30,000 people have now died with Covid-19 in the UK – this includes people who have died in hospitals and care homes, but not in the community.
- Globally, over 260,000 people have now died.
Today’s update includes:
- Requests & Offers from the Stroud Coronavirus Community Response team & beyond
- Summary of local news
- Key national & international news
Requests and Offers from the Stroud Coronavirus Community Response team and beyond
- We shared an update about guidance for gas engineers and landlord responsibilities from The Gas Safe Register which is “the official list of gas businesses who are registered to work safely and legally on boilers, cookers, fires and all other gas appliances. By law all gas engineers must be on the Gas Safe Register.” The webpage provides specific advice for vulnerable (shielded) tenants on landlord gas safety checks.
- We have a local services directory, and it includes local heating and plumbing businesses. This is a difficult time financially for many people, particularly self-employed people offering services. Please support local people in our community if you can. If you have any further names or services to add, please complete our questionnaire
- Bradley Young shared the SNJ’s post about two local children’s choirs who have released a cover of Jess Glynne’s ‘I’ll Be There’ to lift people’s spirits during lockdown.
- Sarah Dixon shared an OFFER after her boiler leaked, prompting a clear out of linens from the airing cupboard… she has a pile of old sheets and pillowcases that might be useful for scrubs or other sewing projects. Who can use them? Also… if you know about leaks in boilers…get in touch with her
- We shared a government video on handwashing to mark World Hand Hygiene Day yesterday (too late to go in yesterday’s update but worth a reminder!).
- Yesterday the SCCR admin team posted a jointly-written letter in response to misinformation being shared on social media and on public posters. The letter calls on “everyone in Stroud to work together to make sure we are helping those in need, addressing gaps and problems by sharing requests for help” and says that the team “encourage(s) people to hold authorities accountable and responsible, and [to] fact-check claims along the way… Sharing wrong and misleading information is not only confusing and disruptive, but can cause serious harm.”
- We now have 4,285 members. Please invite your friends to grow this community.
- Please take a look at the Group Purpose and Guidelines if you haven’t read them recently.
Local updates:
- Four more people with Covid-19 have sadly died in Gloucestershire, bringing the county’s total to 203. Of those who died, 174 were being treated at Gloucestershire Hospitals while 29 were being cared for through Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust. (Gloucestershire Live)
- The total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Gloucestershire is 1,267.
- The SNJ reports that a “A drive-through mobile testing unit for coronavirus is being set up in Gloucestershire. It will be running for five days, from tomorrow, May 7 until Monday May 11 inclusive, and will be based at Oxstalls Tennis Centre in Gloucester. People with symptoms who are key workers or over-65s can attend the site, which is run by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), to be tested.”
- You can read government “Guidance on coronavirus testing, including who is eligible for a test, how to get tested and the different types of test available” on gov.uk.
- Gloucester insurance firm Ecclesiastical’s Movement for Good will award hundreds of charities with £1,000 as part of a £1million fund – with public voting on the winners (Gloucestershire Live).
National news:
- As of 9am 6 May, there have been 1,448,010 tests, with 69,463 tests on 5 May. 1,072,144 people have been tested of which 201,101 tested positive.
- As of 5pm on 5 May, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 30,076 have sadly died. (Department of Health and Social Care pinned tweet)
- 649 people died in the last 24-hours period, and 6,111 new cases of coronavirus were recorded yesterday.
- As BBC News reported: “That’s the third highest number of new cases in the UK since the outbreak began. It could be a result of the extraordinary increase in testing we’ve seen since late April. It’s the highest number of new cases from people such as those in social care, key workers and their families, as opposed to tests carried out in hospitals.” Given the number of daily tests has been relatively similar for a few days, it could also suggest that the virus is still spreading.
- “From Italy to Australia, critics have accused a “complacent” British government of “massively underestimating” the gravity of the coronavirus crisis after the UK reported the highest death toll in Europe” (The Guardian)
- The DHSC have launched a new app for adult social care workers in England providing coronavirus information
- Remember that you can download an app to track symptoms and help track cases in our community.
- Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has said the government wants infrastructure and construction work “to begin again wherever it’s safe to do so” (Sky News video)
- Unite the Union – the largest union representing construction workers said in response: “Unite is clear that social distancing rules must be maintained for all workers on site. The new guidance which says that you can work within two metres of each other if necessary, but for no longer than 15 minutes at a time, is not safe. It’s dangerous. Your employer’s duty to protect you during these unprecedented times needs to start as soon as you head off to work in the morning until you get home. You should not have to travel during peak hours, which is why Unite is calling for sites to open at 10:00.”
- There has been a widespread “#ShutTheSites” campaign against construction sites remaining open during the lockdown, and it is clear there is continuing opposition to the government’s position.
- “Prime Minister Boris Johnson today announced a new target of 200,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of May” (CityAM)… but
- “The government has missed its [100,000] target for coronavirus testing for the fourth day in the row, after just 69,463 tests were carried out yesterday.” (CityAM)
International developments:
- Confirmed cases of the virus have passed 3.7 million (3,724,688), and the number of confirmed deaths is over 260,000 (260,938).
- There are four countries with over 200,000 confirmed cases: the USA (1.2million), Spain (219,000), Italy (214,457), UK (202,356), and a further six with between 100,000 and 200,000.
- The UK is now the country where the second highest number of people have died (30,150), higher than the current numbers in Italy (29,613), with the USA (71,463) being the place where the most people who have died (via Johns Hopkins University tracker)
- You can watch today’s briefing from the World Health Organisation
- Germany: “Government officials have confirmed the remaining nine games for Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund can be played from the second half of his month. [Football] Clubs have planned for a May 16 restart and an announcement on the exact date will be made on Thursday.” Some shops are also re-opening.
- USA: “In change of plans, Trump now says coronavirus task force will continue ‘indefinitely‘” (NBC News)
- Europe: “Europeans plan holidays as Airbnb spots signs of rebound. Denmark and the Netherlands lead surge in bookings but company still cuts 25% of workforce” (Financial Times)
- China: “The first cohort of children are returning to school in Wuhan, China, where the first case of the new coronavirus was reported late last year… Teenagers will have their temperature checked before going into school, and sit one metre apart from other students… Return dates have not yet been confirmed for junior and middle school students.” (Evening Standard)
Notes
Please remember we have a (growing) list of resources to support your emotional and mental health during this time on our website. The following numbers may be useful:
- Samaritans: 116 123
- Domestic Violence Hotline: 0808 2000 247
- Mind: 0300 123 3393
- Age UK: 0800 169 6565
- Childline: 0800 1111.
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