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Dear resident,
We hope you’re well and that you are keeping safe. This week's newsletter brings you updates on the vaccine progress in Leeds, the new care home visiting policies from Monday 8 March and the reopening of face-to-face education.
An update on Leeds' infection rates
The latest infection rate in Leeds (as of March 4) is down at 135.3 per 100k people and positivity is also down to 6.2%.
Infection rates are continuing to decrease but still remain high.
The best way to keep yourself and others safe is by acting as though you have the virus.
We must all keep doing everything we can to keep the infection rate falling. Please stay at home unless essential and only travel locally, keeping your distance from those not in your household, and wear a face mask when required.
It is also important to remember that we still remain under lockdown restrictions, and you can only exercise in public spaces such as parks with your household (or support bubble), or one other person (in which case you should stay 2 metres apart). Staying in your local area means staying in the village, town, or part of the city where you live. The latest guidance and information about what changes from March 8 is available here.
In the meantime, we’re continuing to develop opportunities for asymptomatic testing across the city – including for households/bubbles with school-age children, and for key workers. Full details are available here
Updated guidance for care-home visiting
From Monday (8 March), the government guidance is that care home residents will be able to nominate a single named visitor who can attend for a regular visit. The visitor will have to take a rapid lateral flow test every time they visit, wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and follow other infection control measures, and keep physical contact to a minimum.
Care homes can continue to offer visits to other friends or family members with arrangements such as outdoor visiting, substantial screens, visiting pods, or behind windows.
You should always follow care homes’ individual infection control measures and guidance before arranging a visit.
More details are available here.
COVID-19 Vaccine update
The COVID-19 vaccine programme is continuing to be rolled out at pace across the city. As of today, 223,887 people have received the vaccine in Leeds.
You will be contacted by the NHS when it’s your turn to be vaccinated. In the meantime, please stay at home unless essential and if leaving the house stay local.
Below are some useful links for the latest vaccine information:
Schools reopening & keeping children safe
Schools, colleges and other education providers will re-open for face-to-face teaching for all pupils from Monday (8 March). If you were one of the many parents and carers who have been home schooling since the beginning of January, we would like to thank you for all you have done to work with your school to support your child’s learning.
Please bear in mind that as secondary schools are managing the challenging logistics of testing all pupils before they return to school, it may well be that your child has a later start date than Monday 8 March. We appreciate your patience if your school is having to stagger the safe return of pupils and assure you that schools are working hard to enable this to take place as soon as possible.
In order to reduce the risk of transmission and keep both pupils and staff safe, we would like to ask that you:
- Please do not send your child to school if they or anyone else in your household is showing Covid-19 symptoms of a new continuous cough, high temperature or loss or change in sense of taste or smell;
- Please keep the school informed of any positive cases and test results;
- Please maintain social distancing, and ask your child to do the same, on the journey to school and at pick-up times. Please remember that only one adult should collect their child from school and parents should wear face coverings in the playground if this request has been made as part of the school’s control measures;
- Please ensure your child has an adequate supply of face coverings if they attend a secondary school, as these will be required to be worn in all situations where it is not possible to maintain 2 metres distance. This will be reviewed over Easter.
Testing for school staff & parents
School staff will now undertake regular rapid self-tests (also known as Lateral Flow Tests) to see if they have Covid-19. This will help to identify cases where staff are showing no symptoms of the virus and may be infecting others without realising.
There is also a similar scheme available to parents. Twice-weekly rapid lateral flow tests will be given for free to all families and households with primary, secondary school and college aged children and young people, including childcare and support bubbles. For more information please visit the government’s website.
Travelling to school
Finally, pupils and parents are advised to walk, cycle or scoot to school wherever possible. If travelling by public transport then please allow more time. Everyone must wear a face covering if aged over 11, unless exempt. If sharing a car, open the windows, wear a face covering and leave some seats free to social distance.
Full guidance on safe travelling can be found here.
Big Thank You
Keep an eye out for our Big Thank You campaign!
We wanted to say a Big Thank You to everyone in the city who, despite the upcoming loosening of restrictions, still continues to keep their distance, wash their hands, wear face coverings and self-isolates if required whilst we move along the government’s roadmap. It is important that we continue to do the right thing, not just for our own protection but to protect all of our residents, particularly those who are most vulnerable.
Our campaign will be showing across social media, billboards, digital advertising and across TV.
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