Key Item:
The government is now advising the use of face coverings/masks when in enclosed public spaces. We will be sharing more details on how you can make your own or purchase locally-produced masks in the comments and in further posts – please share your ideas or links in our Facebook group too!
Today’s update includes:
- Requests & Offers from the Stroud Coronavirus Community Response team & beyond
- Summary of key local, national and international news
Requests, Offers and Updates posted in the Stroud Coronavirus Community Response Facebook group
- Local Photographer Fred Chance described his experience of Covid 19 / the coronavirus. His post is remarkably open and we think will be hugely useful to people wanting to understand what having the virus can be like. We encourage others to submit their stories and experiences of this time – see our “Share your Story” post for full details.
- Rachel Fairbairn shared a video from Jessica Anna Home about their volunteering to make “Scrubs and Laundry bags – The Story So Far”. Rachel says “if you like what you see please sign up to receive a Free Scrub Making Kit or Donate”.
- Susan Cummins has let us know of Union Coronavirus resources: “Most TUC-affiliated unions have dedicated sections or pages of their websites to coronavirus/Covid-19 advice. You can click to see where such information is available without entering special member portals.” If you are looking for advice about employment and work, and considering joining a trade union, you might also want to check out the Workforce Coronavirus Support Group and their linked Coronavirus Handbook For Workers page.
- The team at Amplify Stroud have shared an excellent article about Stroud’s pubs, and the risks posed to them. The New York Times opinion piece is written by Stroud resident Eleanor Salter.
- Alex Hobbis Shared The Tangible Memories app from Stand + Stare (“With Tangible Memories you can save and share your stories in an interactive book. The app is a super simple way to record the stories of your lockdown life, either on the go as they happen, or in a more careful and considered way. It helps you collect and collate your images and audio recordings in one place and preserve them in an interactive book that is easy to share with loved ones, whether in person or by post.”)
- Brand Zero has asked for more donations so they can make Nurses & Carers Hand cream. They’ve been able to make and distribute a total of 563 pots so far to frontline workers in Nailsworth, Stroud, Dursley and Gloucester. Please donate to Brand Zero if you can.
- A reminder that “If you want to help get PPE and other protective items to frontline workers or YOU need PPE, you can join the 100s on the map at http://www.ppemaker.net/” (shared by Leigh Creamer)
- Dr Jenner’s House, Museum and Garden is closed to the public but they’ve done their best to bring the experience of a visit to you with a virtual tour. Don’t miss their crowdfunder to replace lost income from closure.
- We now have 4,322 members. Please invite your friends to grow this community. And please do introduce yourself and let us know anything you’d like to see in the group related to coronavirus and how we can work together to get through the pandemic and its impacts.
- Please take a look at the Group Purpose and Guidelines if you haven’t read them recently.
Summary of key local, national and international news
- The coronavirus testing centre at Oxstalls Tennis Centre in Longlevens will remain until the end of Sunday. It has tested 170 people a day tested on average.
- League Two “Clubs held an indicative vote to cancel the rest of the regular season with the decision, along with the method of finalising the standings, needing to be ratified by the EFL and Football Association”, which would see the end of Forest Green Rovers’ season.
- “Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has said “we owe it to the children” to get pupils back in school, as he [attempted to] reassure parents it would be safe… England is the only UK nation to set a date for schools to start to reopen. Schools in Wales will not reopen on 1 June, while those in Scotland and Northern Ireland may not restart before the summer holidays.” (BBC News)
- However, “The BMA said there was conflicting evidence from scientific studies on the effect of reopening schools, citing the “relatively small amount of research available and the uncharted territory we find ourselves in”. [The BMA council’s chair, Chaand Nagpaul] Nagpaul concluded: “Until we have got case numbers much lower, we should not consider reopening schools.” (The Guardian)
- The government is now advising the use of face coverings/masks when in enclosed public spaces. We will be sharing more details on how you can make your own or purchase locally-produced masks in the comments and in further posts – please share your ideas or links too!
- The British Medical Association has expressed concern about the ability of the NHS to cope with patient demand in coming weeks: “Thousands of doctors have told a BMA survey they have no confidence in being able to manage patient demand in the coming weeks and that caring for those with Covid-19 has severely impacted the treatment and care available for other patients”.
- “European countries should brace themselves for a deadly second wave of coronavirus infections because the pandemic is not over, the World Health Organisation’s top official in Europe has said. In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Dr Hans Kluge, director for the WHO European region, delivered a stark warning to countries beginning to ease their lockdown restrictions, saying that now is the “time for preparation, not celebration”.” (The Telegraph)
- “Italy‘s government has signed a decree that will allow travel to and from the country from 3 June, as it moves to ease its coronavirus lockdown measures.” (BBC News)
- “Greece has said it hopes to open up to foreign tourists again from July.”
- “Austria’s borders with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary will fully reopen on 15 June”
- “infections in India [have risen] past China’s total, and the government [is] expected to extend its strict lockdown”
- “Russia recorded its highest daily toll from the disease on Saturday, with 119 deaths… but is pushing ahead with plans to start lifting the lockdown from next week.”
- “Domestic flights between major cities in Pakistan took off again for the first time in nearly two months on Saturday.”
- “In Brazil the health minister offered his resignation over the ballooning crisis, after less than a month on the job and a day after president Jair Bolsonaro stepped up pressure on him to expand the unproven use of the antimalarial drug chloroquine in treating patients.” [see WHO information on chloroquine: “Chloroquine is currently recommended by WHO for the treatment of P. vivax malaria. In the context of the COVID-19 response, the dosage and treatment schedules for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine that are currently under consideration do not reflect those used for treating patients with malaria. The ingestion of high doses of these medicines may be associated with adverse or seriously adverse health outcomes.”]
- “The German Bundesliga yesterday became the first major [football] league to resume, with five games played behind closed doors, including a Ruhr derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04.”
- (international updates above all from the Guardian daily news feed and summary)
A reminder that we will now be providing our summary of local, national and international statistical data on a weekly basis (on Tuesdays) rather than daily. You can read our first weekly summary of local, national and international statistics in next Tuesday’s update.
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