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Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Pandemic updates from the Welsh Government

 

Latest coronavirus updates from the Welsh Government (dated yesterday) are:

 

Coronavirus in numbers

 

  • The Office for National Statistics has today published statistics on provisional weekly deaths, including deaths involving Covid-19, for the week ending 1 January 2021.
    • The cumulative number of deaths involving Covid-19 in Welsh residents up to 1 January was 5,169.
    • Of the deaths registered in the week ending 1 January, there were provisionally 310 deaths involving Covid-19; this was 32 more than the previous week – numbers are now at a similar level to early May.
    • For the period 29 February 2020 to 1 January 2021, there were a total of 4,109 excess deaths (15%) above the five-year average. The excess death rate for Wales for the period 29 February 2020 to 1 January 2021 overall was lower than in England.
    • The numbers reported by ONS are different from those from Public Health Wales because of different reporting methods and timing. The ONS figures are higher because they include some extra cases.
    • https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/latest

 

What to do if you have symptoms of coronavirus

Where to find the latest information

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Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Those breaching Covid rules "increasingly likely" to face fines, say police

North Wales Police have this afternoon issued a new statement about the enforcement of Covid-19 rules.

It says: "Those breaching Covid Level 4 restrictions are increasingly likely to face fines as police continue to see many flouting the law by ignoring the legislation.

"The warning comes following a busy weekend where officers have reported a substantial amount of people for breaching restrictions on non-essential travel.

"Patrols continued in popular hot spot areas across the region and people who were out ‘visiting’ and who had travelled by vehicle to places such as Snowdonia, Moel Fammau, Llangollen, Brenig, Wepre Park, Llandudno and Abergwyngregyn were stopped and reported for breaching Covid regulations.

"Although North Wales Police will continue to apply the 4 E’s approach of engaging, explaining and encouraging – only then enforcing, the force will instruct officers to issue fines more quickly to anyone committing obvious, wilful and serious breaches.

"Many of those were residents of north Wales – however officers also stopped groups from the Cheshire area who intended on climbing up Tryfan in the dark and with inappropriate clothing. A woman from Staffordshire was also stopped in Prestatyn where she was ‘visiting the beach.’

"Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Harrison said: 'We all know the law by now and know exactly what is the right thing to do. It is on every single news channel, radio bulletins and in the newspapers. There’s no escaping the fact that people have been told to stay home.

'It is not acceptable to pick and choose the law you follow and the laws you don’t. This is not a dress rehearsal and people will live and die on the actions we all choose.

'The restrictions to prevent the spread of Coronavirus are there to protect us all. Every single one of us - and it is vital that everyone takes personal responsibility by staying home unless they have a valid reason not to be there.

'Now is not the time to head up into the mountains or to enjoy scenic drives in the countryside. Exercise should start and finish from home – unless you have specific mobility issues where you can drive a short distance. Nobody should be travelling unless absolutely essential.

'As Police Officers our first duty is to preserve life. The critical situation our NHS colleagues are facing and the way the new virus variant moves through communities, means we can no longer spend our time explaining or encouraging people to follow rules where they are wilfully and dangerously breaching.

'If people continue to break the rules, putting themselves, their families and their communities at greater risk, our officers are ready to act robustly.

'It is up to us all to do the right thing. People should not think of ways of circumventing the law and the police should not be needed to reinforce common sense. 

'Policing continues regardless of the pandemic with officers responding to hundreds of emergency calls, searching for missing people , responding to calls in relation to violence in the home, dealing with drink and drug drivers and responding to road traffic collisions. Policing will continue to do our bit, but everyone else needs to do theirs. Unless it is for a valid reason please stay home.'”

* The statement can be viewed here: Weekend Covid enforcement | North Wales Police

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County raises charge for green waste collection service

Denbighshire County Council is increasing the price of its fortnightly green waste collection service.

From January 18 subscription rates for the green bin garden waste service will rise "to bring the service closer to a self-financing model," says the council.

The new cost of the standard service will be £30 and the cost of the enhanced service will be £45.

These new charges will come into force on Monday, January 18 and will apply to all transactions made on or after that date.

Cllr Brian Jones, the council’s Lead member for Waste, Transport and the Environment, said: “We have made the difficult decision to increase the subscription rates to move it towards a self-financing service as part of a wider need to identify budget savings within the Council.

“Moving to a self-financed service means garden waste collection is delivered under a fairer system where it is being paid for only by those using the service.

“Denbighshire will continue to offer a value for money service which operates all year round, with 26 collections a year. Garden waste can also be taken to the county’s household waste recycling centres for free throughout the year.”

Garden waste is not allowed in residents’ black bins and black bins containing garden waste will not be emptied.

Existing customers have had their subscription automatically extended after the stoppage of the garden waste service during the spring of 2020 due to coronavirus.

* Residents can renew expiring subscriptions and can check when their subscription is available to renew here: https://gardenwaste.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/Renewal/Renew

You can also renew your subscription by contacting the Council on 01824 706000.

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Health board explains why operations at Wrexham Maelor are postponed

The Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board, which covers Llangollen, has explained why it is been forced to postpone the majority of planned surgery at Wrexham Maelor Hospital due to the affects of the pandemic.

In a statement it says: “The increasing transmission of COVID-19 in the Wrexham and Flintshire areas and the resulting number of patients being treated for COVID-19 at the hospital – currently 128 - together with winter pressures has had a significant impact on our ability to provide routine services at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

“Regrettably, the majority of planned surgery at the hospital will be postponed for an initial period of two weeks with immediate effect from Monday, 11 January.

“This action will support the expansion of respiratory and critical care capacity to treat seriously ill COVID-19 patients. It will remain under constant review to enable us to react promptly to the evolving situation.

“All emergency surgery, upper gastro-intestinal surgery, endoscopy procedures and Caesarian sections will continue at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

“All patients affected will be contacted directly by the Health Board about the postponement of their procedure. If clinically appropriate, they may be offered their procedure at Ysbyty Gwynedd.

“Patients who are offered the opportunity to have their procedures at Ysbyty Gwynedd will be prioritised based on clinical need, regardless of where in north Wales they live.

“Urgent outpatient appointments only will continue at Wrexham Maelor Hospital for the present time. Face-to-face routine appointments will be postponed and will take place either via a virtual or telephone consultation.  

“Planned surgery at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan and Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor will continue, although with the rising COVID-19 incidence, this is also under constant review by the Health Board.

“Due to the pressures of COVID-19, planned Orthopaedic surgery will be paused across North Wales from Monday, 18 January. Trauma surgery will continue as normal across all three hospital sites.

“Other Health Boards have already taken similar action, which is in line with nationally accepted methods to risk assess patients.

“Professor Arpan Guha, Acting Executive Medical Director at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said: ‘There are many patients expecting to undergo an operation in Wrexham over the coming weeks and we recognise how anxious and worried they will already be about having surgery during the current surge of the pandemic.

‘We are sorry for any further distress or inconvenience this decision may cause and would like to reassure those affected that we are doing all we can to prioritise patients in the most urgent need of care.

‘Our priority is to provide the safest possible environment for surgical patients. This clinically led decision has been made after reviewing predicted demand on our services from both COVID-19 and winter pressures.

 ‘Our staff are doing all they can to provide the best care for all patients while dealing with the challenges caused by the absences of colleagues due to COVID-19 infection, isolating and shielding.’” 

The statement adds that the specialties affected by these changes are:

·         Urology

·         Breast

·         Ophthalmology

·         General surgery

·         Gynaecology

·         Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) 

Advice to patients due to undergo surgery at Wrexham Maelor Hospital during the next two weeks is:

·         You will be contacted by hospital staff by phone about your appointment. Please do not contact the hospital switchboard.

·         If you do not hear from the hospital, please attend your appointment as arranged.

·         If you have any questions or need further information about an appointment or operation, please use the contact information provided on any correspondence received, for example a patient letter.

·         If you are seriously unwell and cannot wait to be seen, our advice remains to please seek help by dialling 999 or attending the Emergency Department.

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Latest pandemic update from Welsh Government

Latest coronavirus update from the Welsh Government (dated yesterday) is:

  • Health Minister Vaughan Gething will today publish the COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy, which sets out three key milestones.
    • It comes as the latest figures show more than 86,000 people have received the vaccine. Wales will publish daily vaccine figures from today.
    • The three milestones set out in the plan are:
      • By mid-February – all care home residents and staff; frontline health and social care staff; everyone over 70 and everyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable will have been offered vaccination.
      • By the Spring – vaccination will have been offered to all the other phase one priority groups. This is everyone over 50 and everyone who is at-risk because they have an underlying health condition.
      • By the autumn – vaccination will have been offered to all other eligible adults in Wales, in line with any guidance issued by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
    • https://gov.wales/new-covid-vaccination-strategy-published
    • Strategy: https://gov.wales/covid-19-vaccination-strategy
    • Watch Health Minister Vaughan Gething’s press conference: https://twitter.com/WelshGovernment/status/1348604539046293505

 

 

Coronavirus in numbers

 

What to do if you have symptoms of coronavirus

Where to find the latest information

o   Health Minister Vaughan Gething held today’s press conference. You can watch again at: https://twitter.com/WelshGovernment/status/1348604539046293505

o   Slides published during the press conference: https://gov.wales/slides-and-datasets-minister-health-and-social-services-coronavirus-briefing-11-january-2021

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Government fund to help Covid-hit tourism and hospitality sector opens

The Welsh Government’s latest £180m Economic Resilience Fund package to support tourism, hospitality and leisure businesses affected by coronavirus restrictions will open for applications at 12pm tomorrow, Wednesday January 13. 

The funding, announced in December, is part of a live £450m package of support that the, hospitality, leisure and tourism sectors as well as their supply chain can access and will provide vital support to thousands of firms impacted by alert level 3 and 4 restrictions. 

The £180m is in addition to a £270m support package for businesses that pay non-domestic rates, which includes non-essential retail businesses, and is being delivered via Local Authorities.

The Welsh Government estimates that under the package of support a typical hospitality business in Wales with the equivalent of six full-time staff could be eligible to receive between £12,000 and £14,000 in total, making it the most generous offer in the UK.

Economy Minister Ken Skates said: “Accelerating coronavirus rates meant we have had to make difficult but necessary decisions to protect people’s health and save lives. We know these decisions have a knock-on effect on our businesses and there is no doubt that latest restrictions mean very real challenges for firms who have already had to deal with so much.

“We are committed to doing all we can to protect our businesses during this very challenging time. Our package of support is the most generous in the UK and since the beginning of the pandemic more than £1.6bn of Welsh Government financial assistance has reached businesses.

“Many hospitality, tourism, leisure and non-essential retail businesses have already received payments of £3,000 or £5,000 in the last month and this additional funding will be absolutely crucial in supporting eligible businesses through the difficult weeks ahead.”

The amount a company can claim from the £180m sector specific fund will be calculated based on staff count and turnover. 

The fund is expected to support up to 8,000 hospitality, tourism and leisure firms impacted by the restrictions and potentially a further 2,000 in related supply chains.

An eligibility checker and calculator has been live on Business Wales since December to help businesses work out what support they can expect to qualify for in total and the detail they will need to make an application. Further guidance was also issued last week.

Since the end of October alone, more than 69,000 offers of support worth in excess of £230m have been made to businesses across Wales through the Welsh Government’s Economic Resilience Fund.

Welsh Government support has already protected more than 125,000 jobs that might otherwise have been lost.

Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Lord Elis-Thomas, said: “We are fully aware, not least from our hospitality stakeholder group, of the impact of the restrictions that we have had to bring in. This was not the Christmas period that any of us had hoped for, but I would urge businesses to take advantage of the help available.

“We will continue to do everything we can to support our firms and our people through to the other side of this dreadful pandemic.”

* Further information and details on how to make an application for the package of business support is available on the Business Wales website.  The fund will remain open for 2 weeks or until funds are fully committed.

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Police boss calls for crackdown on Covid rule-breakers

* North Wales PCC Arfon Jones.

A police boss says a new get tough approach is essential to crack down on Covid rule-breakers who are putting lives at risk.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones spoke out after “selfish” people flouted the regulations  and flocked to beauty spots across the region.

On Friday, two people had to be rescued North East Wales Search and Rescue (NEWSAR) team after becoming "disorientated" in severe weather conditions during a walk up Moel Famau on the Flintshire border.

The pair had gone for a walk from home but they raised the alarm by phoning the policing after losing their bearings as conditions deteriorated rapidly due to snow and poor visibility.

By Saturday lunchtime more than 100 cars had been turned away from Moel Famau, with some driving past "road closed" signs.

Meanwhile, in Snowdonia car parks have been closed to deter visitors.

Until now the police response has been guided by the so-called four Es, to engage and find out why the rules were being broken, explain the rules and rise, encourage people to behave responsibly and to only take enforcement action as a last resort.

The regulations allow for fixed penalty notices can be issued with fines ranging from £60 to £10,000.

According to Mr Jones, a former police inspector, it was now time for a tougher approach from the police and other agencies.

He said: “I would like to commend most people for behaving responsibly at this difficult time but those who choose not to can expect to be held to account.

“Unfortunately, there are far too many selfish people who are flouting the guidelines and they are turbo-charging the spread of this deadly virus.

“Their actions are totally irresponsible and life-threatening. If they have no regard for their own health, they should think of their loved ones.

“It is now time to forget  the mantra of Engage, Encourage and Educate and focus on Enforcement so we can clamp down on the Covid rule breakers and prevent this reckless behaviour.

“The stay home and stay safe message is all more important because the new mutant strain of Covid-19 is even more infectious.

“This has inevitably ramped up the threat of community transmission, with 70 per cent of cases in North Wales linked the new variant.

“As a consequence, the people of North Wales are at risk like never before.

“Being a police officer can be a difficult and dangerous at the best of times but North Police is facing unprecedented challenges as a result of the pandemic.

“The last thing our officers need is for their time be wasted by selfish people who think they are above the law.

“It is totally unacceptable that our brave and selfless officers are themselves being put unnecessarily at risk as we have seen with examples of them getting stuck in the snow trying to come to the rescue of these foolish people.”

A Welsh Government spokesman  reinforced the message, saying: "Cases of coronavirus are very high in Wales at the moment and there is a new strain of the virus circulating, which is highly infectious and moving quickly.

"At alert level four, exercise should always be undertaken from home, unless you have special circumstances which requires some flexibility - such as disability or autism.

"The more people gather, the greater the risk of spreading or catching the virus."

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