Minutes:
1. The Director of Public Health gave a verbal update on the following issues:
COVID-19 response – the average 7-day case numbers for all areas of the population and all areas of the county were now falling and there had been no spike increase in cases following the easing of lockdown. Data had been shared with all district council partners across the county, including Medway.
Outbreak Control plans - COVID-19 was a notifiable disease and any institution suspecting a case was obliged to advise a local Public Health England team immediately so the latter could provide appropriate support and guidance on the steps which should be taken. Most cases reported were only single cases rather than clusters, and clusters, where found, were small and were mostly in care settings. Data was monitored daily to identify how cases had arisen.
Media Campaign on COVID-19 – called ‘Protect Kent, Play Your Part’, this sought to remind the public that COVID-19 had not gone away and that they still needed to be vigilant and act responsibly to avoid a repeat surge of cases and second, localised lockdown, as experienced in Leicester. The public was reminded of the need to continue observing 2-metre social distancing, to stay at home as much as possible, to wash hands regularly and use hand sanitiser gel where provided. The campaign would seek to be as flexible as possible and identify and address local concerns. The flu vaccine would be made available earlier than usual this autumn and had been launched on 2 July.
Testing – an additional testing site had been established at Manston airport and launched on 6 July, and coverage of the Kent population with static, mobile and postal testing facilities was good. If a cluster of cases were to be identified, a mobile testing unit could be deployed without delay. The Department of Health was working to provide more walk-in and cycle-in testing sites and increase testing for vulnerable groups.
Data analysis and modelling work – much data analysis was being done to identify patterns of infection and help to prepare for various scenarios in which rates might increase in any one sector of the population or area of the county. Looking ahead to winter, when national levels of respiratory illness always increased, work would seek to identify more of those in the population who would be eligible for a flu vaccine. The vaccination programme would also start earlier than usual, in September rather than October.
Work with Partners – excellent partnership working had ensured that services could continue to be delivered. An Outbreak Control Plan had been published, to comply with Government requirements, and would be shared with all partners, and close joint working meant that all partners had an opportunity to learn from each other. With other local authorities, Kent had held outbreak control team meetings, in particular to address issues relating to the homeless. This would also seek to avoid the situation experienced in Leicester and issues which had arisen in meat packing plants in Europe and the USA.
2. Mr Scott-Clark responded to comments and questions from the committee, including the following:-
a) evidence of the effectiveness of face masks in limiting the spread of the virus was not strong, despite them now being compulsory on public transport. A face mask would lower the risk of the wearer infecting others around them rather than them being infected by others. Even if wearing face masks, the public must comply with Government guidance about distancing, use of hand sanitising gel where provided and frequent hand washing. The risk of spreading the virus was much less outdoors, with social distancing;
b) the outstanding role of care workers and care managers in supporting the elderly, disabled and vulnerable was applauded. The risk of infection among this client group, especially those living closely together in care homes, had been identified early, and teams consisting of NHS, Public Health England and Adult Social Care professionals had been deployed to identify outbreaks and provide advice and guidance to those caring for them. It was known that COVID-19 affected the frail and elderly more than younger people and that quite a lot of transmissions were asymptomatic. Asked how what proportion of Kent’s care home population had died from the virus, Mr Scott-Clark explained that Kent was known to have a lower percentage of infection than many other local authorities. Figures were updated weekly by the Office of National Statistics and he undertook to provide the latest figures to the committee outside the meeting;
c) elected Members were proud of the work done by County Council staff and providers throughout the pandemic, particularly given the lack of information at the start about the nature of the virus and how it spread;
d) asked to share the best practice discovered to deal with infection in the homeless population, Mr Scott-Clark explained that many who spent their days on the streets were not necessarily without homes but just chose not to stay in them. Spending a lot of time outside without access to washing facilities made them vulnerable to picking up the virus, and, if they showed symptoms, they would not follow advice to go home and stay home for seven days to avoid passing it on to others. Teams working with the homeless had the challenge of tracking them to test and follow up, including tracing those with whom they had had closest contact, but many homeless people did not want to be traced. To enforce self-isolation, the police and public health partners would have to prove that an individual posed a threat to others and would need to build a sufficient case for a magistrate to consider taking enforcement action. It was much easier for the police and public health to keep to the positive approach of ‘Engage, Explain and Encourage’ rather than enforce; and
e) regular testing at care homes was welcomed and Mr Scott-Clark was asked if and how this could be extended to those using domiciliary care services. Mr Scott-Clark explained that regular testing had indeed been widened beyond the original 65+ age group to include people with learning disabilities, and would hopefully soon include those using domiciliary care services, as well as the carers delivering the service. This group already had access to testing but it was hoped that testing could be made more regular for them.
3. It was RESOLVED that the update be noted, with thanks.