Coronavirus Doncaster: Update
Introduction
Hi, my name is Dr Rupert Suckling and I am the Director of Public Health in Doncaster.
This has been a very difficult week for Doncaster, not least because we're all coming to the end of our first week of being in Very High or Tier 3 of the government's Coronavirus alert levels.
I do appreciate this has caused a lot of challenges, worry and confusion and I've explained some of the guidance further down in this email, as well as on the MyDoncaster social media channels. We will continue to do this over the coming days.
The situation is still very serious and I cannot emphasize that enough.
The latest rate I have for the 17th to the 23rd of October shows our 7 day rate is 530 cases per 100,000 people. This is the second highest in South Yorkshire and is in the top 10 now for England.
This is not good news.
It's clear to me that too many people in Doncaster are still meeting up and not following the guidance to keep our distance, to wear face coverings and to wash our hands.
The infection is spreading very quickly and we will need to stop it. If we do not put the fire out now it flares up and continues burning.
So I'm asking you all to go above and beyond the Tier 3 restrictions to help keep everyone in the borough safe.
Please don't travel unless it's essential for you to do so and please stay within Doncaster if you possibly can.
Remember the basics - face, space and hands.
If every one of us does these then we'll help reduce the infection rates and get out of this situation quicker.
This week I've written to businesses, schools, care homes and the voluntary, charity and faith sector amongst others about the new guidance and I'll be writing to the clinically extremely vulnerable to explain what they should be doing to stay safe as well.
Please look after yourselves and let's all do it for Doncaster.
Dr Rupert Suckling
Director of Public Health
Watch my latest video update here
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 Your questions about Tier 3 answered
We’re almost a week into Tier 3 restrictions in Doncaster, and you’ve raised a lot of questions and concerns about what the new guidance means for you.
Our Director of Public Health Dr Rupert Suckling has addressed some of these:
Household mixing...
"Under the new restrictions the only place you can mix households is in a public outdoor space such as a park.
"Nobody should be meeting anybody from another household indoors, including in restaurants or in a private garden. Remember even in public outdoor spaces we must adhere to the rule of six. Remember the basics – face, space and hands."
Support Bubbles...
"It is complicated but essentially, a support bubble is if you live by yourself or are a single parent with dependent children you can expand your close support network so that it includes one other household of any size."
Childcare Bubbles...
"Childcare bubbles can also be set up for parents with one other household – whether that is a family member, neighbour or friend – but it must be the same two households."
Travel...
"Travel seems to have been another big area of discussion.
"Under Tier 3 guidance we are asked to avoid non-essential travel, although the national guidance does not explicitly say we should not be leaving our borough I would like to ask the people of Doncaster to try and avoid leaving Doncaster for the short-term while we carry on working hard to get our rates under control. You are able to travel, following the COVID guidelines, to work, go to school, college and university."
Enforcement...
"I have seen some comments about our ability to enforce the guidance. We continue to work closely with our colleagues at South Yorkshire Police on enforcing the rules, my hope is that we don’t need to be going down that route but harsher steps will be taken if need be."
Green Bins Suspended from Monday 2 November
A significant amount of waste operatives working for our contractors, Suez, have tested positive for Coronavirus (Covid-19) and other members of staff have also now had to self-isolate.
Therefore, a decision has been made to halt all green waste bin collections for the remainder of the year from Monday (2 November 2020).
This will enable us to prioritise black and blue (recycling) bin collections with the fewer staff members we have available.
If your household’s green bin is due to be collected by the end of this week, please put your green bin at the kerbside according to the bin calendar schedule and we will pick it up as soon as possible.
In line with Public Health advice, please remember to observe the ‘HANDS – FACE – SPACE’ guidance. You can do this by cleaning your hands before and after handling your bin.
How do we celebrate Halloween this year?
Unfortunately due to the COVID situation we currently find ourselves in, we're asking residents not to go trick or treating tomorrow night.
So many families being out and knocking on each others doors could really increase the risk of Coronavirus spreading.
That doesn't mean we can't still celebrate though - why not organise a party for your kids at home? All get dressed up, eat some treats and watch a scary film or two?
We've also seen loads of examples of families using the half term to show off their Halloween craft making skills!
Next Thursday is also Bonfire Night of course, and our emergency services are asking us not to have bonfire parties that break the current social distancing rules set out by the Government.
Meanwhile, firefighters are asking people to take extra care with fireworks and to avoid having garden bonfires that could grow out of control and tie up fire service resources.
Find out more from South Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue:
Back to school
Our schools will reopen on Monday following the first half term of the school year.
Whilst we saw a number of Coronavirus cases over the first half term, the vast majority of our classes continued to remain open – our overall attendance rate was above 80% throughout the term.
Our schools and the whole education team continue to work really hard to put our children’s education at the forefront of what’s happening. Preparations have been made to ensure learning environments are as safe as possible and virtual lessons and digital learning have been made available for those who may have to self-isolate to make sure their education can continue.
But as we're now in Tier 3 restrictions, there are some things to bear in mind to help keep us all safe:
- Please don't use the school run as a chance to socialise with other parents at the school gates – drop your children off safely and leave the area as soon as possible.
- Try and avoid giving parents or children from other households lifts if at all possible. If you do have to give a lift to someone from another household, you should open the windows, wear face coverings (unless exempt) and leave seats spare if possible to enable physically distance.
- If your children are walking to school, please make sure they stick to the rule of 6 and don't mix year groups.
- We know how important it is for our children to have a bit of normality in their life, so if they’re playing out after school please encourage them to again stick to the rule of 6!
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