11 September 2020
Public: coronavirus (COVID-19) advice for Devon on our website
Please pass this onto district, borough, parish and town councillors as appropriate. The bulletin can be shared as a link by clicking the 'View it as a Web page' link at the top.
Do it for Devon
Stick with us and keep following the guidance to keep everyone safe and well.
Devon extends a warm welcome to all visitors.
However, to keep us all safe, we need the support of local residents and visitors to keep following the guidelines with social distancing, washing hands and hand sanitising, wearing a face covering in enclosed spaces, avoiding busy places and keeping gatherings to groups of up to six people (from Monday 14 September). .
Director of Public Health Devon urges all residents to heed advice at all times
Dr Virginia Pearson, Director of Public Health Devon and Chair of the multi-agency COVID-19 Health Protection Board, said:
“Nationally, you’ll be aware that the number of confirmed cases in some areas are rising, which has led to tighter restrictions being introduced.
“Although Devon’s rates have been comparatively low so far, we cannot be complacent.
“Just like the rest of the country, we have seen a significant rise in the number of confirmed cases in September.
“Not all new cases are now linked to returning international travellers, which was the pattern we had seen recently.
“We must remember that coronavirus is still a very real threat to us all, especially to our older and vulnerable residents."
View the rest of her message and a reminder of the public health advice.
Access to testing in Devon
Last week, we reported that the government has diverted some of the testing resources from parts of the country where prevalence is lower, to other parts where prevalence of cases and demand for testing is higher.
That's meant that people are finding that access to testing locally is less available.
Dr Virginia Pearson, Director of Public Health Devon, said:
"There may be issues with people accessing COVID-19 testing in Devon as a result of national laboratory capacity for analysing tests being directed to areas elsewhere with a higher prevalence of cases.
“You must still follow the national guidance on getting tested, which is that if you develop any of the symptoms - the new and continuous cough; the high temperature; or the change in your sense of taste or smell – you should book a test via the normal government website.
“If you are unable to book a slot, you can email:
d-ccg.cornwalldevon.urgenttesting@nhs.net for advice on what to do."
More than nine in 10 children back in school in Devon
More than 90 per cent of Devon pupils are already back in school as the new academic year gets under way in the county.
Most Devon schools did not open until this week with some staggering starts for different year groups over the next few days.
But Devon’s Head of Education, Dawn Stabb, revealed earlier this week that 90 per cent of children are already in school. That compares with an average of 96 per cent in normal times.
“We’ve had a really good start in terms of children engaging with schools,” she said. “This is a really positive response.
“All schools have updated their risk assessments over the summer so they are in line with both Government and health and safety guidance.”
She said 99 per cent of the pupils known to Devon’s transport team had transport in place on their first day of school. For the other one per cent, arrangements had been made with their families to get them to school.
New rules from Monday 14 September – groups of up to six allowed
New rules from Monday (14 September). People will not be able to meet socially with others from other households in groups of more than six people.
That applies indoors and outdoors, including in people’s own homes.
Rules around social distancing and the use of face coverings still apply too.
There will be penalties for breaching the new rules. The police will have powers to enforce, and fines of £100 could be issued. Fines will keep doubling for further breaches, to a maximum of £3,200.
 Spotted something phishy? Make sure you #mulletover!
The national Cyber PROTECT Network, led by the City of London Police and in partnership with Action Fraud, is warning people to lookout for phishing messages.
Find out more about how to spot phishing emails and how to report them, in our Inside Devon article.
New action cards available for business settings
There are new 'action cards' available to people who own, manage or are responsible for specific businesses.
The cards are designed to quickly help businesses to identify outbreaks within their organisation; know how to report it to their local health protection team; and work with the local health protection team to respond to it.
The action cards are designed to be printed or downloadable.
They're now available for the following work settings:
- Education
- Commercial workplaces
- Industrial workplaces
- Food and drink
- Institutional
- Small and large gatherings
- Travel.
Second stage of Self Employment Income Support Scheme now open
The second stage of the Government's Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) opened for applications earlier this month.
Anyone whose self-employed business has been adversely affected by coronavirus since 14 July is eligible for the scheme and will be able to claim a second payment of up to £6,570.
More information, including how to apply, is available on the Government website.
Schooling and welfare
Schools are working flexibly to keep pupils and staff safe
Schools have over the last couple of weeks welcomed back students for the new term. For some, that’s the first time back since March, and for others it’s a new start altogether.
They’ve also been working hard to establish new ways of working to enable them to re-open safely.
That’s included changes to timetables, to rooms, to class sizes, to the flow of pupils in and out and around school, to arrangements for lunch and breaktimes.
It’s also included changes to pick up and drop off arrangements to reflect social distancing and parents are being reminded to also socially distance from people outside their family when they are near the school.
See this example of how three schools will be making more space outside their gates at pick up and drop off time as pupils return this term.
All possible measures to be taken before any future restrictions on schools
The Government has published guidance that sets out what possible measures should be taken before any restrictions are imposed on schools.
In Devon, our confirmed case numbers, although rising, are still comparatively low, where in other parts of the country, they are seeing heightened levels of restriction to control their local spread of the virus.
The Government wants schools to maintain consistent education for children and young people, so any local restrictions to impose on schools should be as a last resort.
Decisions would be taken locally by local authority leaders and Directors of Public Health, alongside national government, and they would take all other possible measures including implementing restrictions on other sectors, before considering restricting attendance in education.
Schools have plans in place to ensure that high quality remote education that mirrors in-school education can continue for pupils who are required to self-isolate, or if local restrictions were needed.
At the end of August, schools and colleges began receiving home testing kits, with more available to order, to use in exceptional circumstances, such as if an individual with symptoms can't access a test elsewhere.
Study finds very low numbers of coronavirus in schools
A report published just in the last few weeks shows that coronavirus infections in schools are rare.
Public Health England detected just 67 single cases in schools across England in June, with just 30 examples in which two or more cases were linked.
They found that there were more likely to be situations of two or more linked cases in areas that also had a high coronavirus incidence, suggesting transmission in the community was driving the spread in schools.
"This demonstrates the continued need to control the spread of infection in the community to help keep schools open, with all playing their part by washing their hands, wearing face coverings, keeping distance and getting a test if they have symptoms," they said.
The research has been submitted to the Lancet.
Helping to accommodate demand on busy school and college routes
To reduce the risk of catching coronavirus the preference is for people to walk, scoot or cycle to school or college, if they're close enough to do so. Being outside reduces the risk of exposure to the virus, more so than being inside.
But that's not always practical, and many young people and staff are car sharing and catching public transport to school and college.
We've been working closely with our transport providers to arrange more buses to get to school or college for journeys that we know lots of students use.
We're doing that to create additional capacity so that it's easier to socially distance on public transport
Social distancing and face coverings are required by law on public service buses and trains. We are also requesting all students on dedicated County Council school transport to wear a face covering.
This week, we've been monitoring the school transport preparations that have been made to ensure that they're working sufficiently. In some cases, working with our transport providers we've amended plans and added more buses to the busier routes so everybody can get to their destination.
Full details of these additional services can be found on our Travel Devon website.
A recap on what we can and can’t do right now
For the latest list of the things we can and can't do right now, visit the Coronavirus Frequently Asked Questions online.
 Community groups are still supporting people who need them
We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again. We’re very lucky in Devon to have so many local community groups and individuals who have stepped up to help people in their communities. People, especially those who were ‘shielding’ for weeks unable to leave the house, would otherwise have struggled even more with things like shopping and picking up prescriptions.
In many towns and villages, those community groups are still there and working away to help local people. We’ve been in touch with a lot of them recently to check. They’re still doing amazing work.
So we still want to signpost people to them. Now, we’re adding them to our community directory site, called Pinpoint. That’s an online directory that includes all sorts of local groups you might be interested in, and you can use it to find any that are near you.
Here’s the link, with a filter added to help you find community groups near you.
Don’t forget, NHS Volunteer Responders will carry on delivering the groceries you buy and prescriptions if you need it. You can call them on 0808 196 3646 (8.00am to 8.00pm).
National Fraud Initiative – data matching exercise
Devon Audit Partnership (DAP) supports us to comply with our role in protecting the public purse. We are participating in the regular biannual mandatory exercise to promote the proper spending of public money.
Each year, by participating in the Cabinet Office’s anti-fraud initiative, known as the National Fraud Initiative, we are complying with our role in protecting the public's purse and saving money that can be spent on frontline services.
Most Devon libraries are now open to the public
Nearly all 50 of our libraries in Devon are now open for public access.
Almost all of the few that are not yet open are operating a choose and collect service to enable customers to choose their item(s) online and arrange to collect (them) at a specified time.
Our library service wish to thank you all for your patience and understanding. Staff are working hard within libraries and behind the scenes to get services running safely and efficiently.
For the full list of libraries that are open, visit our website.
Opening times will vary for each library and may change over future weeks, so do check opening times for your local library before you make your journey.
Devon Carers achieves 'Helplines Standard' accreditation
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 Freddie Scheske (Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK); Chris Brown (British Cycling); Devon County Councillor Stuart Hughes; Hugh Roberts (Managing Director, Tour of Britain); Natasha Reddy (Bianchi Dama).
Devon unveil Sherford to Exeter route for Tour of Britain
Devon County Council and organisers of the Tour of Britain have announced more details of the Devon stage of the race to mark one year to go until Britain’s biggest professional cycle race returns to the county.
Devon will host Stage Two of the 2021 Tour of Britain on Monday 6 September with a 185 kilometre (115 mile) route between Sherford and Exeter, the twelfth stage to have been hosted by Devon since 2008.
By pulling together across the Council, with our partners and our communities, we are doing everything we can to help us all through this incredibly difficult time. Thank you to you and your community and stay safe and well.
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