Covid-19 update 12 March 2021

Gloucestershire County Council sent this bulletin at 12-03-2021 11:42 AM GMT

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Key messages

Covid hasn’t gone away and to help keep life moving, we all must play our part in keeping cases down
Regular testing, alongside staying at home, following the rules of Hands, Face, Space, self-isolating and getting a test if you have COVID-19 symptoms, remain crucial to keep reducing the rate of infection and protect one another
Secondary aged pupils are being encourage to test regularly from home using kits provided to them
Members of a household, childcare bubble or support bubble of school staff or a pupil; or in an occupation associated with schools such as out of school clubs; or who have to visit schools for work can get a twice-weekly rapid test through their employer if they offer testing to employees;
- at a local community test site;
- by collecting a home test kit from one of the PCR testing sites: Hempsted Meadows, Stroud or Cheltenham walk-in between 1.30pm and 7pm;
- or by ordering a home test kit online.
A third rapid, regular testing site for people with no symptoms opened in the Forest of Dean on Wednesday 10 March. The new community testing centre is located at Miners Welfare Hall on Parragate Road in Cinderford
We have developed a new hub of information around testing, visit www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/testing
GP leaders in the county are reassuring people aged 55 and over that they are expecting significant additional quantities of vaccine to arrive in Gloucestershire shortly and that residents will not need to travel outside of the county for their COVID-19 vaccination if they do not wish to
- Residents do not need to call their GP as they will be contacted by their surgery
Letting fresh air in to indoor spaces by opening windows can help prevent the spread of Covid-19. There is new guidance on ventilating indoor spaces.

Mobile Testing Unit (MTU) locations⁶:

Cinderford RFC, Dockham Rd, Cinderford GL14 2AQ (Monday-Tuesday)
Dursley Rugby Club, Hounds Green, Dursley GL11 6AJ (Monday-Tuesday)
Royal Agricultural University, Stroud Road, Cirencester, GL7 6JS (Monday-Friday)
North RFC, Stoke Orchard Road, Bishops Cleeve, GL52 7DG (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Stow RFC, Oddington Road, Stow on the Wold, GL54 1JJ (Wednesday-Thursday)
Car Park off Newerne Street, Lydney, GL15 5RA (Wednesday-Friday)
Sudeley Castle, Castle Street, Winchcombe, GL54 5JD (Thursday-Friday)
Car Park, Oldends Lane, Stonehouse, GL10 2DG (Friday-Sunday)
Hartpury University & Hartpury College, Gloucester, GL19 3BE (Saturday-Sunday)
University Of Gloucestershire, Entrance 3, Park Campus, The Park, Cheltenham, GL50 2RH (Saturday-Sunday)
Lower Lode Depot, Lower Lode Lane, Tewkesbury , GL20 5TT (Saturday-Monday)

Permanent Testing Site Locations

PCR Testing Sites

Gloucester RTS

Hempsted Meadows, David Hook Way, Gloucester, GL2 5LE

Cheltenham LTS

High Street Car Park, Cheltenham, GL50 4AL

Stroud LTS

Stratford Park Leisure Centre, Stratford Road, Stroud, GL5 4AF

You can book a test here for one of these sites if you have any COVID-19 symptoms.

Community Testing Sites (LFD)

Gloucester City

The Friendship Café @ Chequers, Painswick Road, Gloucester, GL4 6PR

Cirencester

Royal Agricultural University, Stroud Road, Cirencester,GL7 6JS

Forest of Dean

Miners Welfare Hall, Parragate Road,
Cinderford, GL14 2JN

You can book a test here if you do not have any COVID-19 symptoms.

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

12 March 2021

Gloucestershire Covid-19 stats

Link to graph showing daily cases by local authority

Cases

In week 10 (Monday 1st March – Sunday 8^thMarch) there were 186 confirmed cases of COVID19.

Of these cases:

50 were in Stroud
34 were in Gloucester
29 were in Tewkesbury
29 were in Forest of Dean
28 were in Cheltenham
16 were in Cotswold

* Please note these figures are provisional and subject to change. (Source: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ as at 16:00 10/03/2021)

The rate of cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 is 30.0 in Gloucestershire, 32.9 in the South West, and 59.7 in England.

Deaths mentioning COVID19

In week 8 (Saturday 20^th February– Friday 26^th February) there were 12 deaths mentioning “novel coronavirus (COVID-19)”, which is 10.3% of all deaths, this compares with 17 (13.9% of all deaths) in Week 7

*Please note these figures are based on all deaths registered by the 6^th March, 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 - 605 (3 new)

Deaths in care homes⁴ - 404 (3 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.