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Monday 11 January 2021 (Update #166)
 The next few weeks will be the worst in this awful COVID-19 pandemic in terms of the number of admissions into hospitals. Even if our number of new cases per 100,000 people start to come down, as early signs this week suggest, the overall situation is going to get worse before it gets better.
Every single unnecessary contact you have with someone outside your household or social bubble is a potential link in a chain of transmission that will lead to a vulnerable person. Every trip out for that treat which might be permitted in law but is absolutely not essential is an opportunity for the virus to spread.
Unfortunately, despite the huge vaccination programme that is now underway we know the millions of people over 80, and those who are vulnerable in care homes and hospitals, have not yet had the opportunity to get vaccinated.
So it is essential that you stay at home as much as possible.
Only leave your home for specific reasons, such as shopping for essential items and medicine, to travel to work (but only if you cannot work from home), to seek medical help, get tested for COVID-19, to get vaccinated if you are invited by the NHS, or to escape domestic abuse.
Do not listen to those who claim on social media that hospitals are not full, or that the deaths from COVID-19 are exaggerated. This is real, the measures taken by the Government are absolutely necessary, and if you don't follow the rules in place now then further restrictions will be needed.
Full details of what you can and cannot do are published on the Government’s website.
If you want to contact me directly, email me. However, please be patient as there may be a delay of a day or two in getting back to you due to the volume of messages I am receiving.
Cllr Damian White
Leader, Havering Council
If you are over 80, and have received a letter from the NHS inviting you to get your first COVID-19 vaccination jab, but you feel uncomfortable about making a trip to a regional vaccination centre many miles away, please don't worry.
You don't have to accept the invitation to attend a regional centre and you will not be forgotten during the vaccine roll out. The vaccination roll out is being done quickly but also safely so it will take some time to reach everyone in the priority catgeories for vaccination.
People who are housebound will be contacted by their GP services about alternative ways to get vaccinated.
Please don't call or visit your GP surgery. They will contact you.
Last week Living in Havering received an email from Hazel who lives in Cranham. She wrote: "I am an over 80 year old, and this morning I had my vaccine jab at Hornchurch library which was booked for 9am. The organisation there from arriving is SUPERB, the volunteers are WONDERFUL, and I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone in the team."
Thank you for the feedback Hazel.
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 COVID-19 vaccinations are free.
The NHS will never arrive unannounced at your home to administer the vaccine.
They will never ask for bank or card details, PINs or banking passwords.
Please share this information with friends and family who may be at risk, or who are over 80 and expecting to receive a vaccine shortly.
Havering Volunteer Centre has had a great response to its appeal for 200 volunteers to support the safe and smooth running of vaccination sites across the borough.
However, a few more volunteers are still needed.
These volunteers will guide elderly residents to the entry point of vaccination centres and remind those attending to keep socially-distanced and to wear face coverings, to observe people who have been vaccinated for 15 minutes, and then support residents to exit the building safely.
If you think you can help register your details and availability on the Havering Community Hub Havering Volunteer App or contact the Havering Volunteer Centre by email or by calling 01708 922214.
Once you have registered your interest, a vaccination site coordinator will be in touch with you.
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Libraries in Havering are now closed.
Fines have been suspended since March 2020 so residents do not need to worry about late fees for books they still have at home.
The library service will continue to deliver to housebound residents during this lockdown.
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If you, or someone you know, has concerns around care, urgent issues with their health and wellbeing or lack of access to supplies, including food, please call our free to use helpline: 0800 368 5201.
You can also email us if you, or someone you know, needs help.
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If you have previously shielded, or have since been notified by the Government that you are classed as Clinically Extremely Vulnerable you can register on the National Database (NSSS) for support, including access to supermarket delivery, or click and collect slots.
You can order your repeat medication without needing to go to a GP surgery or pharmacy by using the NHS app or using your GP online services.
Most pharmacies also provide a free delivery service for patients who are shielding during the lockdown period. You should contact your pharmacy to discuss this.
You can also contact the NHS by calling 111 for further help. It is important to continue to attend any medical appointments that you have.
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Testing helps find out who has been infected with COVID-19 and to take the right action to prevent further spread of infection.
It is important to book a test if you have COVID-19 symptoms.
But you can also have COVID-19, have no symptoms, and yet still pass on the infection to others.
Anyone without symptoms can get a test by choosing the option 'My local council or health protection team has asked me (or someone I live with) to get a test, even though I do not have symptoms' when asked and either ordering a test kit to be delivered, or attend a testing site.
If you cannot work from home, then you are eligible for twice weekly rapid asymptomatic testing, which gives you a result within an hour.
There is no charge for any of this testing.
Click for details of all testing locations and opening hours.
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The Council remains committed to doing everything it can to provide much needed new affordable homes for local people in Havering, and supporting vulnerable members of society to have a home that they can be proud to live in.
It is working with partners to build new homes, with an ambitious 12 estates regeneration programme across existing Council estates.
Alongside the existing regeneration plans for Havering, the Council has also set out its vision for those living in Council managed new and existing homes within the borough.
Now the Council is seeking your views on what you think of its new housing strategy.
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Trust for London is an independent charitable foundation funding work which tackles poverty and inequality in the capital.
It is particularly interested in new and imaginative ways of addressing the root causes of London’s social problems, and has seven funding programmes available with up to £150k for each project.
Havering Compact Forum, which brings together local voluntary organisatons, charities and the Council, will hold an online meeting this Thursday (14 January) with Trust for London to learn more.
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Despite the COVID-19 national restrictions, you should still go to hospital in a serious or life-threatening emergency, or if you feel very unwell.
You should also continue to attend appointments for ongoing treatment, unless you have been told not to.
Otherwise, you should only visit your GP, hospital or other NHS care provider in person if you have been told to do so by a healthcare professional. This helps to keep you safe, keep others safe, and protect the NHS.
For urgent medical advice, the NHS 111 online website will tell you when and where to get help, and can arrange for you to be contacted by a nurse if needed.
Only call 111 if you are unable to get help online. In an emergency, dial 999.
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If you’re visiting our parks, remember that if your children use any play equipment, they should not put their mouths on it.
Hand sanitiser should be applied before and after they use any climbing frames and swings.
Enclosed play areas like basketball and tennis courts are now closed.
Any exercise you take in parks should be with members of your own household or social bubble - or with just one person from another household if really necessary.
Please also follow social distancing guidelines when walking on pathways, and use bins for any masks, gloves or empty sanitiser bottles.
If you purchase food or drink from any of the takeaway kiosks in our parks, please remember to buy your snacks and then walk away to continue your exercise. Please don’t gather in front of the kiosks, as this makes social distancing impossible.
Try and be respectful of other park users including the pace of some disabled or elderly people, and help keep yourself and others safe while enjoying our parks.
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Collections of black sack rubbish and orange sack recycling waste continue on a revised schedule until Monday 18 January.
Please don't put your black and orange sacks out until 7am on the morning of your revised collection day as this minimises the risk of animals ripping bags open and causing littering.
If you have run out of orange sacks for recycling you can use any other clear bag or collect more orange sacks from outside main libraries in the borough.
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More than 19,000 people in Havering have now applied for EU Settled Status.
The deadline for applications to the scheme is 30 June.
If you are a business that employs, or is planning to employ, EU nationals then the way you can hire people from the EU has changed.
Freedom of movement between the EU and UK has ended and the UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system.
If you want to hire anyone from outside the UK’s resident labour market, you must be a Home Office licenced sponsor. Anyone coming to the UK to work will need a job offer from a licenced sponsor in advance and will need to meet certain skills and salary criteria.
The new system doesn’t apply when hiring Irish citizens, or EU citizens who have obtained EU settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.
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If your child is aged between 3 and 4 years old, they are due to start at an infant or primary school in September 2021.
Applications are open now and will close on Friday,15 January.
If you live in Havering you can apply using our website.
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Havering council's Landlord Licensing Scheme has been extended and a selective licensing scheme covering single-family properties in Romford Town and Brooklands wards has also been introduced.
If you’re a landlord or private tenant find out more by visiting our website.
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New City College Havering’s Electrical Installation teacher Otis Griffith has received praise from NHS workers for his work.
Otis, who works at the Ardleigh Green campus in Hornchurch, created a metal sculpture back in the first lockdown as a tribute to the NHS. It is now displayed on a wall at King George Hospital in Goodmayes.
The words of praise have come from Alex Skinner, who said: “I work at King George Hospital and I just wanted to say it is a truly beautiful creation and it is one of the only things that both inspires me and lifts my spirits each and every time I see it."
Otis is a self-taught sculptor and has been creating art pieces from scrap metal in his spare time for around 25 years. He recently won the BBC TV show Home Is Where The Art Is with a sculpture of a family’s pet dog looking up at a cat in a tree, beating two other professional artists to the £1,000 prize.
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