Minutes:
The Director of Public Health provided a verbal update on Covid in the Borough covering areas such as the current position, analysis of the impact of Covid on different communities, legacy work undertaken and how learning was used to inform future ways of working with residents.
It was reported that the Borough’s Health Protection Board (HPB) was an effective partnership forum that led a multi-agency response to the pandemic. The Council and partners had supported residents in isolation, undertaken contact and trace, supported and managed outbreaks in care and school settings and rolled out the vaccination programme.
It was noted that the London Borough of Hillingdon was a national leader in supporting arrivals to the UK.
The Committee was informed that the current rate of infection was 598 per 100,000 population and in Hillingdon there had been 1047 new confirmed cases of Covid in the last seven days. Hillingdon ranked 25/32 out of London Boroughs with the highest rates of Covid cases. The rates had been impacted by the lifting of restrictions and it was noted that the rates remained high amongst communities where testing was consistent. The Committee also heard about the rates of Covid in care settings and hospitals.
It was highlighted that Covid remained prevalent and transmission rates were still high. The Committee heard about the ways Hillingdon had learnt from the pandemic and how data captured informed future planning. The vaccination programme had delivered its intention of protecting vulnerable people albeit boosters and additional vaccinations were required to maintain antibodies and protection levels. Further information was provided regarding targeting risk groups and deceased rates. Vaccination was the seventh highest in the London Borough of Hillingdon with 75% of residents receiving their first vaccination. There were 74,000 people who were yet to have a first vaccination however work was still ongoing through community engagement.
The HPB had now reset its terms of reference to focus on moving forward and tackling wider health protection areas.
In response to Member questions around vaccination take ups, it was explained that this was an ongoing offer. Motivation was different for different people and this was also dependent on government policies. Tourism and the ability to be able to travel was a key factor for some people receiving vaccinations. Community engagement with faith leaders and practitioners took place to encourage the uptake of vaccinations.
It was acknowledged that schools had experienced a considerable loss of learning. The Department for Education had published competency frameworks with schools and had detailed measures that needed to be put in place to manage outbreaks. Schools contacted Public Health when help was required and increasing the vaccination of adults in schools was a highly effective way in managing outbreaks.
In terms of life post Covid, the national direction of travel was living safely with the virus. There were challenges with testing levels and economic implications. However, there were measures in place through the vaccination programme, regular testing and robust infection control measures and this level of response had to be maintained in specific health care settings. It was suggested that there would be seasonal variations with Covid number varying and new variants that emerged. The HPB was now beginning to focus on prioritising other health services such as cancer screening, other vaccinations and blood pressure checks that all contributed to long term conditions and created healthier communities. Working together effectively through joint partnership was emphasised.
The Committee was informed that additional information would be circulated to Members containing accurate up to date data. Members were encouraged by the work undertaken so far and thanked the Director of Public Health for the update.
RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the verbal update on Covid.