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Friday 22 January 2021 (Update #171)
 Better days are ahead as the COVID-19 vaccination programme passes the five million mark nationally.
In London alone more than 36,000 people received a COVID-19 jab on Tuesday.
But please don't drop your guard against this awful coronavirus just because you have received a vaccination. The level of protection you have from the vaccination increases over a number of weeks and you don't receive the best possible protection until you have your second dose.
This is important to remember because our local hospitals are under immense strain - figures for the seven days up to last Sunday showed that all 79 critical care beds at Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust were in use for the first five days of last week.
Therefore, continue to act as if you have the virus whether you have been vaccinated or not. Encourage everyone to take up a vaccination when it is offered as that will reduce the pressure on the NHS and mean that hospitals and doctors can treat all the other ailments and illnesses that are currently having to be put on hold as COVID-19 patients fill the available beds.
Unless you are over 80 years old and haven't received your vaccination invitation, don't tie up hard-working NHS staff with enquiries as to when you will be receiving your jab. The NHS will contact you when a vaccine is ready for you.
We are warned that cold weather could be heading our way this weekend. Please see our article below on taking sensible precautions.
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.
I wish you a safe weekend.
Cllr Damian White
Leader, Havering Council
COVID-19 vaccinations are now being rolled out across North East London providing vaccines for the top four priority groups.
See a full list of priority groups on the Government's website.
The NHS is contacting people from these groups directly to invite them for their vaccine. Unless you are over 80 years old please wait to be invited and don’t contact your GP or any other NHS service to seek a vaccine. However, if you are over 80 and have not yet been invited for your first vaccine yet then please do contact your GP now.
Appointment slots at all vaccination sites are staggered to allow for social distancing. If you receive a vaccine invitation please help prevent queues by not turning up early for your jab.
Information on the vaccine is also now available in a variety of languages including Gujerati, Urdu and Punjabi to help explain the coronavirus vaccine and the importance of having it to protect yourself, and reduce the potential of spreading the virus in your community. The COVID-19 vaccinations used in the UK have been endorsed by the British Islamic Medical Association.
The NHS's East London Health and Care Partnership have a website page full of information on the coronavirus vaccine, including answers to many frequently asked questions.
Additonally, over the coming weeks, there will be a series of events and information available to help answer concerns and questions about the vaccine including an online public meeting organised by Havering Council with local health professionals on Thursday, 28 January, from 4pm.
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 A cold weather alert has been issued by the Met Office for London.
This means we are set to see much colder temperatures over the next few days and nights, so we’re reminding residents of the best ways to keep safe and warm.
There is help at hand for those vulnerable in the communities who need urgent help as part of the ongoing support we are giving around coronavirus.
Havering Council is also prepared for snow should this arrive, with its winter roads maintenance team gritting main routes around the borough when needed so key workers and others having to make essential journeys, can do so, as safely as possible.
- During really cold spells, you need to heat your home to at least 18C
- If you go out for exercise and essential journeys to pick up food or medical supplies, wrap up and wear layers of clothes. Make sure your vehicle is equipped for bad weather
- People with heart and lung conditions, older people and the very young, are at risk of becoming unwell in the colder weather. Look out for vulnerable friends and family – while you can’t visit under current restrictions, could you give them a telephone call?
- Havering Council is providing £170 a month to low income families this winter via its Havering Helps scheme
- Get advice if you feel unwell – a pharmacy can give treatment advice for a range of minor illnesses and can tell you if you need to see a doctor
- You may be able to speak to your GP or a health practitioner over the telephone or online
- You can also call NHS 111 if you have an urgent medical problem and you’re not sure what to do.
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.
It is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, and between 11am and 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays for emergencies only.
You can also email us if you, or someone you know, needs help.
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Distribution of Havering Council's latest information booklet for residents (pictured) has now been completed.
This third in a series of booklets delivered to all homes in the borough focuses on the rules of the national lockdown.
It also provides lots of information on the help available locally and is particularly designed for those residents who don't have access to the internet.
It includes a handy "cut out and keep" list of contact telephone numbers for Havering Council services.
If, for whatever reason, you did not receive this booklet, you can read it online.
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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.
Rapid tests with same day results are available for people without coronavirus symptoms, who cannot work from home.
If you own or run a business, and have employees or workers in public-facing or other key manual roles that cannot be undertaken from home, please encourage them to get a rapid test (also known as a Lateral Flow Test or LFT), if they do not have symptoms.
You can book twice-weekly rapid tests to help keep everyone safe. You can also walk in to a rapid testing centre without booking, but please be prepared to wait.
Don't forget too that it also remains vitally important to book a test if you do have COVID-19 symptoms.
Click for details of all types of local testing locations and opening hours.
Following the success of the arrangement at Dorrington Gardens car park in Hornchurch, which has hosted a COVID-19 mobile testing unit regularly since 12 December last year, the Department for Health and Social Care has offered to locate a permanent local testing site there. This proposal has been accepted by Havering Council.
This will be a walk-through facility, designed to allow local people to access testing and will be on the upper tier of the car park. The lower tier will continue to be available for parking. It will be open 8am to 8pm from Monday 1 February, seven days a week.
Havering Council has been working closely with NHS Test and Trace to protect the health of residents. This will be the fourth such testing site for the borough, and every effort will be made to minimise any disturbance to the local community.
If you need testing now, see the information on our website.
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Havering Council is looking for residents to become Covid Marshals to help in the borough’s fight against coronavirus.
One of their main roles would be talking to other residents, encouraging the wearing of face coverings (to those who are not exempt) and social distancing, as well as helping people understand and comply with current COVID-19 restrictions.
The Council believe that many residents with their local knowledge of their communities would be an asset in helping others. They would work in pairs with another experienced Marshal on patrol.
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Early years providers remain open for all children, but schools and colleges are only open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers, with all other children learning remotely until the February half-term, at the earliest.
In some cases, due to the availability of staff, site constraints, or new control measures, schools may have to limit the number of children attending to ensure the safety of children and staff, but they will be regularly monitoring the capacity available.
Vulnerable children are encouraged to attend, but the guidance published by the Government makes it clear that parents who are critical workers should keep their children at home if they can, especially if they are currently working from home, or have other adults in the household able to supervise their children.
Government guidance regarding childcare bubbles states that if you live in a household with anyone aged under 14, you can form a childcare bubble which allows friends or family from one other household to provide informal childcare.
If you have questions, please speak to your school.
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If you’re visiting our parks to exercise please remember that it should only be with members of your own household or social bubble - or with just one person from another household if really necessary.
Enclosed sports areas like basketball and tennis courts are closed.
Please follow social distancing guidelines when walking or jogging 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 or cafes in our parks, please remember to buy your snacks and then walk away to continue your exercise.
Children should use hand sanitiser after touching any play equipment.
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Havering Council's Landlord Licensing Scheme has been extended and now includes a selective licensing scheme covering single-family properties in the Romford Town and Brooklands wards.
If you are a landlord, don't forget that a discount is offered for early applications received before midnight on Monday (25 January) so don’t miss out .
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Holocaust Memorial Day will be marked by Havering with a virtual commemorative service this Sunday (24 January), on our Facebook and YouTube channels at 2pm.
Reverend Lee Sunderland, the Rabbi of Romford and District Synagogue, will conduct the service, which usually takes place at Coronation Gardens, Romford.
Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on 27 January each year, however Havering's service takes place on the Sunday prior to that date. Tributes to commemorate the actual day will be posted via our Facebook page on that day.
The theme of this year’s Memorial Day is ‘Be The Light In The Darkness’. This theme asks us to consider different kinds of ‘darkness’, for example, identity-based persecution, misinformation, denial of justice; and different ways of ‘being the light’, for example, resistance, acts of solidarity, rescue and illuminating mistruths.
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During summer last year Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch ran a successful online initiative called Ten Tiny Plays.
They invited members of the public to explore play-making exercises with local theatre director Jules Tipton.
Now on Wednesday next week (27 January), the Theatre is reimagining these free playmaking workshops to be delivered by telephone, especially for people with limited or no digital access.
Participants can join Jules Tipton on a group phone call every Wednesday afternoon for a playful introduction to some easy storytelling activities designed to help unleash their creativity.
No experience is necessary, and the project is open to everyone!
The Theatre will then choose some of the plays created in these workshops to be rehearsed and performed by professional actors. These plays will then be shared back as a brand-new telephone play.
The Theatre has partnered on this project with the Havering Asian Social Welfare Association and DABD. This is a continuation of their existing work to support older and isolated individuals who would most benefit from the opportunities.
If you know someone who would enjoy getting involved or would like to participate yourself, please email the Theatre's Learning Team.
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The New City College virtual Open Day held last Saturday (16 January) attracted 10,000 visits to the host website.
Although students and parents were not able to come onto the campus sites, including the Sixth Form and Ardleigh Green in Hornchurch, and the Construction Centre in Rainham, due to the national lockdown, there were 1,400 registered attendees to the subject sessions which were held online.
Visitors signed in to watch and listen to presentations by teachers on Microsoft Teams and to ask questions about the college and the courses on a live Chatify platform.
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Carriageway resurfacing work will be carried out by contractors working for Havering Council in Rom Valley Way, Romford (between Queens Hospital and Oldchurch Road). This work will happen at night between 26 January and 3 February.
High friction surfacing will be laid to the Drill Roundabout (Brentwood Road, Romford) roundabout approaches between 27 and 29 January.
Repairs to a bus stop and resurfacing work in Collier Row Road, Romford will finish by Tuesday (26 January).
Improvement work, including carriageway resurfacing and alterations to pavements and kerbs will be carried out in Lichfield Terrace at the junction with Winchester Avenue in Cranham between 1 and 4 February.
Lamson Road in Rainham will see carriageway resurfacing work at nights between 3 and 6 February.
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This weekend (23 and 24 January) there will be no TfL Rail service between Liverpool Street and Shenfield.
Use Central line connections between Liverpool Street and Stratford or Newbury Park.
Replacement buses will operate.
Due to Network Rail undertaking engineering work in connection with the Barking Riverside Project, c2c services on the Rainham line will not run this Sunday (24 January). Rail replacement buses will run between Upminster and Grays via Rainham.
For customers who need to travel for legally permitted reasons, you must maintain social distancing and wear a face covering over your nose and mouth for your entire journey, unless you are exempt.
If you must travel consider using London’s network of safe walking or cycling routes where possible.
If you need to use public transport, do so during quiet times and check before you travel.
Plan ahead, using TfL's Journey Planner.
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Transport for London (TfL) is reminding heavy goods vehicle (HGV) operators to apply for a free safety permit as soon as possible, with less than two months to go until the introduction of London’s new Direct Vision Standard.
Enforcement will begin on 1 March, by which time all owners of HGVs over 12 tonnes will need to display a valid permit to continue operating in London.
TfL’s Direct Vision Standard assigns vehicles a star rating based on how much the driver can see directly through their cab window.
HGVs will need to meet a minimum one-star rating to enable them to operate in the capital or will need to fit Safe System measures to improve the vehicle's safety.
From 1 March, TfL’s lorry safety scheme will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will be enforced on all roads in Greater London.
A tighter Low Emission Zone (LEZ) standard will also come into force from 1 March to coincide with enforcement of the Direct Vision Standard.
Current LEZ emissions standards set a limit for how much particulate matter (PM) a vehicle may emit. From March there will also be a limit for nitrogen oxides (NOx) for some vehicles, in line with the tough requirements in place for the central London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).
Heavy vehicles including lorries, buses, coaches and specialist vehicles will need to meet Euro VI (NOx and PM) emissions standards or pay a daily charge to drive within the Greater London area.
The standards were previously set to take effect at the end of October 2020 but were postponed to give affected businesses more time to meet them as they face intense demands from the coronavirus pandemic.
Vehicle owners can check their compliance with the new LEZ emissions standards by visiting Tfl.gov.uk/lez or searching ‘LEZ’.
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