COVID-19 Community Champions

Welcome to our third COVID Community Champions newsletter. To view previous editions you can access them later this week on our Champions webpage. We now have more than 100 champions registered and via the web links, we can see champions are sharing this content with more than 500 people, which is fantastic. Please keep sharing this newsletter and the information discussed at our virtual meetings. The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, 18 November at 5pm. A Microsoft Teams link will be emailed to all registered champions shortly.

Second Champions meeting

We had an excellent turnout at our meeting last week and it was great to be joined by Dr Navin Kunta. Amongst many other roles, he is one of our clinical leads for COVID-19. Dr Kunta was able to answer lots of your medical questions about both the treatment, testing and recovery from coronavirus, so a huge thank you to him for joining us. We hope to be joined by other system leaders at future sessions, so you can ask questions.

Other key issues that were discussed include:

• Reinforcement to the group from Dr Kunta that the NHS is still open in Kent and Medway. Please keep reinforcing to community members that unless a health professional tells you your appointment is cancelled, keep attending your sessions. The NHS and social care services are still here to help people who are unwell and needing care and there is a county wide plan to ensure we can keep these services running during the pandemic.
• Many of the group expressed how confusing the guidance has been about the difference between the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (previously known as shielding) classification and other vulnerabilities due to COVID-19. Here's an up-to-date list of what the official advice is for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable and what the term mean.
• The group also passed on the feedback they have been hearing from lots of different stakeholders about the challenges that last-minute advice, guidance and changes to policy has on people and organisations. One example was how hard it has been for schools to change and implement policies on face coverings.
• There was also concerns raised about how challenging it is to implement and enforce social distancing and other COVID safety guidance in communal areas of shared accommodation blocks and buildings.
• We talked about the exact rules around transporting children to schools, with the new national restrictions. The national guidance is specific in allowing childcare bubbles for children who are 13 and under, the lack of wording in the guidance suggests these bubbles are not permitted for children over 14 which represents major challenges for some children and families.
• COVID-19 testing process pre hospital discharge.
• There were also questions about the rules and interpretation of the guidance for day care services and what is permitted. The business guidance lists this in section 3, stating what group activity is permitted. 
• Finally, there was some excellent suggestions and comments about the channels that we can access to provide up-to-date information about COVID-19. There was many helpful suggestions that included local radio stations, local websites and social media feeds and newsletters. As there are so many of these opportunities across Kent and Medway, we would encourage our COVID-19 Community Champions to use our community resources page www.medway.gov.uk/communityresources which has many social media and digital assets that can be lifted direct from here and pushed through these channels.

Support from GPs

Here is a video with Dr Navin Kumta about support from GPs for BAME and other high risk groups: https://vimeo.com/473360840

CCG websites page with the video and some wider info: https://www.kentandmedwayccg.nhs.uk/your-health/coronavirus/helping-people-get-fit-fight-covid

Latest COVID-19 infection rates

Here’s the latest COVID-19 infection rate across Kent and Medway over the last seven days including the total number of positive cases. This information is taken directly from coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases and is accurate as of Tuesday, 10 November:

Send us your feedback

We are always keen to hear what your communities are telling you and asking you, so any feedback on the following questions is always welcome. Please send through your responses on the following:

• What are your community members most concerned about in relation to COVID-19?
• What questions are your community members asking you?
• What information or resources can we provide you to help your community follow COVID-19 safety rules?

Send us your responses by Wednesday, 18 November at midday to scott.ellott@medway.gov.uk and we will try to go through these in our virtual meeting.

Clinically extremely vulnerable residents: Updates

This group was discussed at our champions catch up, but since we met, all 61,000 residents of Kent and Medway who are classified as Clinically Extremely Vulnerable should have received a letter from the government, advising them of the guidance to follow. It also encourages residents to contact their local council if they need any support. If you come into contact with local residents who may need support, the easiest thing to do is refer them to the Kent Together and Medway Council webpages that detail what types of support is on offer, and they are ready to support vulnerable residents.

Community Champions networking

One excellent suggestion that came from the group was to set up a COVID-19 Community Champions Facebook group. This would allow people to ask more immediate questions and allows champions to connect with each other. We are currently working with our communication team to set this up, and as soon as it is, we will share the link by email.

Latest government guidance

England is currently under new national restrictions.  For all the details on the latest restrictions visit gov.uk/coronavirus

Getting a test

Booking capacity is currently at a good level across Kent and Medway.

Please remember:

• Residents only need to book a test if they have a COVID-19 symptom (a new continues cough, a loss of taste or smell, or a high temperature)
• If you have a COVID-19 symptom, you must stay at home and book a COVID-19 test
• If you’re contacted by NHS Test and Trace or through the Test and Trace app, you must self-isolate for 14 days (from when you had contact with the individual who tested positive for COVID-19)

Download the NHS COVID-19 app

Make sure you download the NHS Test and Trace app. Available for free on Google Play and the App Store.

Resources available to use

We have some new materials on the resource centre, which we would be grateful if you could cascade across your communities. These include:

• NHS App: Download the app posters
• Book a test only if you have symptoms
• Social media graphics covering the key safety advice
• WhatsApp graphics covering the key safety advice

Download the resources now

Promoting a healthy lifestyle: Key services

We have a range of health and wellbeing services across the county. Visit our ABM page (for Medway) or KCC (for Kent)  for full details.

Need to speak to us?

For COVID-19 Community Champions in Medway, email:  abmchampions@medway.gov.uk

For COVID-19 Community Champions in Kent, email: phworkforcedevelopment@kent.gov.uk

Check our webpage for more details on your role

For the latest on coronavirus in Medway

For the latest on coronavirus across Kent