Covid-19: Daily update 20 May 2020

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

Please forward this update on to those who would like to see it

Key messages

Gloucestershire updates

• We are holding a Virtual Sports Day for children and young people on Thursday 26 May. Please encourage your local communities to get involved in this fun challenge aiming to raise money for the NHS. More information is on our website.

• Charlotte Jones, head of services for children with additional needs, spoke to BBC Radio Gloucestershire this morning about reopening schools:

  • Charlotte explained we’ve been working closely with headteachers over the past two months. Schools are already supporting over 3000 children of essential workers, enabling them to continue working and we are looking to help them expand the good work they already doing, in a safe way.
  • It's important to remember it’s about widening the school offer and is tying in with the whole plan for easing lockdown. We are planning for 1 June but this will rely on scientific evidence and if the government’s five tests been met. This is the earliest phase, if 1 June goes ahead it's important schools have as much time as possible to plan for reopening.
  • The decision to increase numbers is very much an individual decision for local school leaders - heads know their own schools, parents and staff best. They will be taking all of this into account when planning for more children - including requests from parents, size of buildings, and access to staff.
  • Government guidance prioritises children who will best benefit from the school environment, and plans will depend on classroom capacity, number of children. This means schools will look very different.
• We have announced further details of plans to make it easier to walk and cycle during the Covid-19 restrictions.

National updates

• How tests and testing kits for coronavirus work
• Coronavirus: support for care homes - attached the template for local authorities to return by 29 May as part of local care home support planning.
• Coronavirus: apprenticeship programme response - updated with information on training and assessing apprentices in line with the government’s new safer working guidelines, calculating wages for furloughed apprentices, off-the-job training, and redundant apprentices.
• Coronavirus grant funding: local authority payments to small and medium businesses - data as of 17 May 2020 (updated).
• Coronavirus: attendance in education and early years settings - data as of 15 May 2020 (updated).
• £40m boost for cutting-edge start-ups

Daily stats

Total UK Tests - 2,772,552

Total UK Cases - 248,818

Total UK Deaths - 35,341 

Total Confirmed Cases in South West - 7,340 

Total Confirmed Cases in Gloucestershire* - 1,353 

Total Confirmed Cases in:

• Cheltenham - 318
• Cotswold - 155
• Forest of Dean - 108
• Gloucester - 397
• Stroud - 195
• Tewkesbury - 180

Total Deaths in Gloucestershire** - 220

Help hub stats

• I can offer help – 3413
• I need help – 2949
• Someone I know needs help – 1166
• My business can help – 350

Key links

National Guidance 

General NHS advice

Latest advice and developments from Gloucestershire NHS 

Gloucestershire's Community Help Hub

Council service updates

Make an adult social care referral 

Business advice and support

Looking after your wellbeing

Support for children and families during Covid-19

Your questions answered

Please can you explain what dental provision there is in Gloucestershire? Please include information on emergency dental centres, how to get an appointment and when routine treatment will be accessible.

Please see the below information from Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust as part of the national NHS England requirement. They are unable to comment on other providers.

What emergency dental centres do we have and where:

• We have one central ‘virtual’ urgent care dental hub with an online portal for all referrals, run by Gloucestershire Health and Care Foundation Trust.
• Emergency treatment is defined by new pathways from NHS England. The hub triages and can offer a video consultation and then a face-to-face emergency slot if required.
• Face-to-face care is being offered at Southgate Moorings (Gloucester) and St Pauls (Cheltenham) – both Gloucestershire Health and Care Foundation Trust sites.
• NHS England have negotiated with some high street practices to take urgent referrals from us but there is no confirmation on which or when this will be available.
• Vulnerable patients are physically seen at Southgate Moorings (Gloucester) and Covid-19 positive patients at St Pauls (Cheltenham) 

How to get an appointment

Contact your own dentist, they can refer you on the portal mentioned above.
If your dentist is not available call Southgate Moorings on 0300 421 6440 or the out of hours service on 111 and they will complete a referral and enter you onto our online referral hub.

How do private patients get a referral?

Same referral process as above for private patients.

When will people be able to access an emergency dentist?

The central hub opened on 10 April.

When will people be able to access a dentist for routine treatment and check ups?

The is currently no guidance on this yet. We are awaiting national guidance.

*The above data reflects nationally published data available here.

**This section contains information on deaths of patients who have died in hospitals in Gloucestershire and had tested positive for Covid-19 at time of death or where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. All deaths are recorded against the date of death rather than the date the deaths were announced. It is based on national NHS data published here. 

The data in this briefing is updated at 9am each day based on the figures released at 2pm the previous day.