Covid-19 update 1 April 2021

Gloucestershire County Council sent this bulletin at 01-04-2021 02:40 PM BST

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Key messages

As of 29 March, people in England can:
- Meet outdoors with up to six people or two households/bubbles
- Take part in organised outdoor sports
- Use outdoor leisure facilities including tennis and basketball courts.
People who were shielding can now start following the guidelines in line with the rest of England.
On Monday 5 April, Government is expected to announce plans for further easing restrictions across England from 12 April.
Even though we are now allowed to socialise more, it’s still important to follow the rules around hands, face, space and fresh air as well as getting a regular rapid test if you have no symptoms, but have to leave the house for essential reasons, and taking up the offer of a vaccination when invited.
To help remind people of the vital steps they need to take to further reduce the rate of infection in our county and to protect each other, our Keep going…it will be worth it campaign continues. You can find and download our campaign assets from Flickr.
Community Collect is now live at all four rapid testing centres. Anyone who lives in a household with nursery, school or college aged children; is in a support or childcare bubble; or who works in a school setting can collect two boxes of 7 tests to carry out at home. There is no requirement to book. Regular testing is an important part of our journey out of lockdown.
Remembering the rules is especially important as we head into the Easter bank holiday weekend, and through into the school holidays, when more people will be keen to see friends and family – COVID-19 doesn’t take a break for Easter!
GP surgery teams are piloting an additional vaccination walk in service on Saturday 3 April (10 to 4pm) in two areas of the county – Gloucester and Cheltenham - for those people aged 50 and over who have yet to take up the offer of their 1st dose. Members of the public will be given the opportunity to talk with doctors and other health care professionals at the sites at Rosebank Surgery, Gloucester and St Paul’s Medical Centre, Cheltenham about vaccination and discuss any issues or concerns.

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 (Friday-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)
Car Park, Oldends Lane, Stonehouse, GL10 2DG (Friday-Sunday)
Hartpury University & Hartpury College, Gloucester, GL19 3BE (Sunday)
Lower Lode Depot, Lower Lode Lane, Tewkesbury, GL20 5TT (Thursday - 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

Tewkesbury

The Link Youth Support Centre, Link Road, Tewkesbury, GL20 5JQ

You can book a test here for one of these sites if you do not have any COVID-19 symptoms.

National updates

1 April 2021

Gloucestershire Covid-19 stats

Link to graph showing daily cases by local authority (Please open in Google Chrome)

Cases

In week 13 (Monday 22nd March – Sunday 28th March) there were 104 confirmed cases of COVID19.

Of these cases:

23 were in Cheltenham

23 were in Stroud
21 were in Gloucester
21 were in Forest of Dean
8 were in Tewkesbury
8 were in Cotswold

* Please note these figures are provisional and subject to change. (Source: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ as at 16:00 17/03/2021)

The rate of cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 is 17.6 in Gloucestershire, 28.2 in the South West, and 54.7 in England.

Deaths mentioning COVID19

In week 11 (Saturday 13^th March – Friday 19^th March) there were 5 deaths mentioning “novel coronavirus (COVID-19)”, which is 5.7% of all deaths, this compares with 6 (6.2% of all deaths) in Week 10.

*Please note these figures are based on all deaths registered by the 27th 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 - 611 (0 new)

Deaths in care homes⁴ - 406 (0 new)

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

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.