Covid-19 update 26 February 2021

Gloucestershire County Council sent this bulletin at 26-02-2021 12:53 PM GMT

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Key messages

On Monday 22 February, the Prime Minister announced Government’s plans to ease restrictions across England. Each step will be assessed against four tests before restrictions ease, starting with the return of schools on 8 March.There will be a five-week gap between each stage to allow Government to review the rates of infection.
A third rapid, regular testing site for people with no symptoms will open at the Miners Welfare Hill in Cinderford on 10 March. Anyone who lives or works in Gloucestershire and has to leave home for work or caring responsibilities can now book a regular Lateral Flow Device test at their nearest site. Plans are in place to roll out Lateral Flow Device testing through other sites across the county. Further details will be announced in the coming weeks.
A new walk-to PCR testing centre for people with symptoms is set to open at Stratford Park Leisure Centre in Stroud today (Thursday 25 February). People are able to book a slot in the same way they do for Hempsted Meadows and our mobile units via the national portal.

Mobile Testing Unit (MTU) locations⁶:

In the preceding 30 days of reporting (25th January-23rd February) under our local pillar 2* testing sites 79,626 tests have been undertaken in Gloucestershire residents, 3% of these were positive.

*Pillar 2 swab testing is available for the wider population, as set out in government guidance. It does not include inpatients and frontline healthcare workers

Mobile Testing Unit (MTU) locations⁶:

Dursley Rugby Club, Hounds Green, Dursley GL11 6AJ (26^th February and 1^st- 2^nd March)
Sudeley Castle, Castle Street, Winchcombe, GL54 5JD (26^th February and 4^th March)
Royal Agricultural University, Stroud Road, Cirencester, GL7 6JS (26^th - 28^th February and 2^nd-4^th March)
Lower Lode Depot, Lower Lode Lane, Tewkesbury , GL20 5TT (27^th February - 1^st March and 3^rd - 4^th March)
University Of Gloucestershire, Entrance 3, Park Campus, The Park, Cheltenham, GL50 2RH (27^th- 28^th February)
Cinderford RFC, Dockham Rd, Cinderford GL14 2AQ (1^st – 2^nd March)
Cheltenham North RFC, Stoke Orchard Road, Bishops Cleeve, GL52 7DG (2^nd- 3^rd March)
Stow RFC, Oddington Road, Stow on the Wold, GL54 1JJ (3^rd March)

National updates

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

26 February 2021

Gloucestershire Covid-19 stats

Link to graph showing daily cases by local authority

Cases

In week 8 (Monday 15^th February – Sunday 21^st February) there were 293 confirmed cases of COVID19.

Of these cases:

68 were in Stroud
51 were in Tewkesbury
49 were in Forest of Dean
45 were in Gloucester
44 were in Cheltenham
36 were in Cotswold

* Please note these figures are provisional and subject to change. (Source: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ as at 16:00 24/02/2021)

The rate of cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 is 47.6 in Gloucestershire, 70.7 in the South West, and 117.3 in England.

Deaths mentioning COVID19

In week 6 (Saturday 6^th February– Friday 12^th February) there were 22 deaths mentioning “novel coronavirus (COVID-19)”, which is 17.2% of all deaths, this compares with 28 (19.6% of all deaths) in Week 5

*Please note these figures are based on all deaths registered by the 20^th February, they are provisional and will be subject to change. They include deaths that make any mention of COVID-19 on the death certificate. (Source: Weekly provisional figures on deaths occurring and registered in England and Wales by Local Authority)

*Please note the dates above, the ONS weeks run from Saturday- Friday and we are unable to change this.

Deaths in NHS Trusts² - 594 (15 new)

Deaths in care homes⁴ - 394 (6 new)

Your questions answered

To make sure your questions get answered promptly by the team, please continue to send your questions directly to democratic.services@gloucestershire.gov.uk

¹ The above data reflects nationally published data available here.

² 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.

³ Weekly death figures provide provisional counts of the number of deaths registered in England and Wales for which data are available. From 31 March 2020 these figures also show the number of deaths involving coronavirus (Covid-19), based on any mention of Covid-19 on the death certificate. Figures by place of death may differ to previously published figures due to improvements in the way we code place of death. This figure does not include deaths of those resident outside England and Wales or those records where the place of residence is either missing or not yet fully coded. For this reason counts may differ to published figures when summed. Bank Holidays could affect the number of registrations made within those weeks.

⁴ Care homes vary in size and in the characteristics of their residents. Outbreak data is also being reported publicly here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/covid-19-number-of-outbreaks-in-care-homes-management-information. The figures here are slightly lower than our local figures due to a time lag. The number of cases (confirmed or suspected) has not been reported due to limitations in data accuracy which means comparison is not possible. This information is being used for operational purposes. As testing in care homes increases we will review whether adding this information will add additional strategic insight.

⁵ CQC publish figures on deaths where Covid-19 was suspected in the notification from the care home, as well as all cause mortality (since 10 April 2020). It is probable that not all deaths due to Covid-19 will be notified as such, conversely Covid-19 may be mentioned but not have been a contributory factor in a death). While CQC numbers are more comprehensive than local reporting, they are not currently reported by district council.

⁶ Please note that there is a possibility of last minute changes if the MTU’s are diverted to assist with outbreak control both in this county or elsewhere.