New infections drop, but rate of decline slowing
The number of new COVID-19 infections in Cumbria continued to drop in week ending 19 February, down 24% from the previous week (555 compared to 728).
Allerdale, along with Barrow and Copeland, continue to have infections rates above the England average of 120/100,000. Allerdale overtook Copeland in having the greatest number of new cases (+150 new cases);
While some districts saw small increases, more recent data from this week has confirmed these to be related to specific outbreaks rather than indicative of a general increase.
The number of new patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 decreased from the previous week in both North Cumbria Integrated Care (NCIC) and University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMB) by -19% and -31% respectively.
For week ending 12 February there were sadly a further 74 registered deaths mentioning COVID-19.
The weekly COVID-19 situation report (for week ending February 19) is published at: www.cumbria.gov.uk/stopthespread.
Garden waste collections restart
The weather has been glorious this weekend, just in time for garden waste collections restarting from this coming Monday (March 1). The collections were suspended over the winter months but are now ready to resume.
You can check your next collection date by clicking the link below which will take you to our website's bin collection calendar. As collections are fortnightly, our crews may come to you either the week beginning 1 March, or in the following week beginning 8 March.
What can you put in the garden bin?
Yes please:
Grass cuttings
Branches and leaves
Dead flowers
(Shake as much soil off as possible. If the bin is too heavy it may break and end up in the back of the lorry.)
And please don't bag up the wast as any plastic will contaminate it.
No thanks:
Soil and rubble
Plant pots and trays
Kitchen and vegetable waste
Make sure it's going in the correct bin
It's really important to remember to put the right type of waste or recycling in the correct bin.
Last week our waste crews collected the load pictured above, possibly from the Clifton area, which was placed in paper and card bins. However, as you can see from the images there's several other items that have been placed in these bins, including black sacks, carrier bags and other general waste, which are not suitable for this type of collection.
These handful of rogue items mean that the whole load collected - weighing 1.4 tonnes - was contaminated and was therefore rejected by the organisation we send our recycling materials on to.
This recycling material will now, unfortunately, have to be sent for further treatment before it can be made good for re-use - this could have been avoided and means lost income for the council and the taxpayer as well as it being less environmentally friendly.
A big thank you to everyone who already sorts their recycling into the correct container.
Click the link below to find out more about what rubbish/recycling should go in which bin.
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Council meetings this week and next
This week meetings of the council's Executive, Audit Committee and Overview and Scrutiny Committee took place virtually. To view the agendas and reports, click here. All the meetings took place virtually and were live streamed on YouTube - recordings can be viewed on our channel.
Next week (w/c March 1) a meeting of the Full Council will take place. Among the items on the agenda is the 2021/22 council budget. To watch the meeting (Wednesday, March 3 from 7pm) go to our YouTube channel.
More lateral flow test centres open
Essential workers who cannot work from home now have more ways to access regular COVID-19 Rapid Result Lateral Flow testing with eleven testing sites now open in Cumbria.
Last week five testing sites opened in Carlisle, Aspatria, Kendal, Penrith, and Millom.
This week, six additional sites have been been opened in Barrow in Furness, Dalton, Milnthorpe, Sedburgh, Workington and Whitehaven.
Lateral Flow tests give a result in 30 minutes and help identify asymptomatic carriers, people who do have COVID-19 and are infectious but are not ill. These people can then self-isolate to protect others.
The testing sites are open to any essential workers who cannot work from home and come into regular contact with other people through their job, and who do not have COVID-19 symptoms. The tests are free and no booking is required, but please note the sites are only open at the times stated.
People who do have symptoms of coronavirus should book a test at nhs.uk/coronavirus or by calling 119. They should not attend a Lateral Flow Community Testing Site.
Testing sites in Allerdale:
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Aspatria: Beacon Hill School, Market Square, Aspatria, Wigton CA7 3EZ - Saturdays 09:15 - 12:30
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Workington: Workington Academy, Stainburn Rd, Workington, CA14 4EB - Mondays 17.15 – 19.30 and Thursdays 17.15 – 19.30
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