After several weeks of having seen our infection rates come down locally, it was frustrating that we saw cases tick up again once more, particularly in Corby, but it is not completely unexpected as ‘lockdown’ eases. As I understand it, however, welcomely, it is the case that we have not seen this translate into unmanageable hospitalisations and mortality as we saw at earlier points in the pandemic and the rate is now coming down and at a level faster than the national average.
Without question, as we move forward, there is also a need for us all to learn to live with this virus, as ultimately, there is no credible road to a ‘Zero COVID’ Britain, or world, as some advocate, but we cannot persist indefinitely with restrictions that debilitate our economy, our physical and mental wellbeing, and the life chances of our children. That said, we should not be complacent about doing all we reasonably can to contain it and given our public health leaders believe that these cases are predominantly as a result of mixing, the onus remains for us all to show common sense and consideration for others, by adhering to the rules as they stand at any given point in time. I also just want to say that I am hugely grateful to all those locally - the vast majority - who have been, and continue to, do right by sticking to the rules.
To tackle these case rates, what is welcome is that we have seen testing significantly boosted in Corby over recent months, with more workplace testing capacity available, routine testing going on in schools and colleges, two lateral flow testing sites are stationed in the town, and a pilot is to take place this weekend of our ‘variant of concern’ contingency plans for the county in the Beanfield area of Corby, with door-to-door testing taking place. Anybody can also now collect home testing kits for them and their family for use at home from the two lateral flow testing sites, or from ten pharmacies in the town. As part of this initiative, you can collect two packs of home testing kits and each pack contains seven tests for use twice weekly by members of your household – for more details about locations, see: https://maps.test-and-trace.nhs.uk/findatestcenter.html. There is similar provision in place in East Northamptonshire too, including a lateral flow testing centre at Thrapston. All of this is geared towards identifying chains of infection that we can then shut down, which is of course very positive. This consistently increased capacity has been something I have pressed for, and you can find various extensive updates from earlier points in the pandemic at the following link, https://www.votepursglove.co.uk/news, for the purposes of context and setting out my past activity on these matters.
For reference, it should be noted, however, that increased testing capacity inevitably means we are also likely to identify more asymptomatic cases than other parts of the country, by virtue of the fact a greater proportion of our population is being tested, which would also in part explain our higher local infection figures.
As we know, as well as keeping infection rates down, successfully continuing to move forward with the ‘road map’ relies upon the sustained success of the vaccination roll-out – a monumental and impressive undertaking so far. I should say here that we have seen an increase in vaccine supply here in Northamptonshire in recent weeks, which is also of course very welcome – and is indeed a tool which scientific evidence appears to show is helpful in reducing transmission. As such, I continue to push our local health leaders to see what more we can do to obtain an even greater supply, to help us target getting our infection rate down further in Corby. Given the concerns locally about workplaces too, I have also raised the issue of vaccine hesitancy in some communities and whether there can be a concerted effort to undertake vaccination in some of our workplaces that attract greater risk, through ‘pop up’ services, given the nature of the operations and the fact that members of staff cannot work from home. I raised this again as recently as today and I hope to hear more on this suggestion soon, as I know it is being very actively looked at. Separately, I have also sought an update from the neighbouring CCG as to progress towards establishing ‘pop up’ vaccination services in the Oundle part of the constituency and I will report on progress as soon as I hear more.
Enforcement has also importantly been stepped up over the last couple of months, with greater police patrols in the community and business related education and inspections taking place.
My understanding from the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, having asked him about this, is that the intention remains to move the whole country out of the restrictions as one through the easings – with the next stage of that coming on Monday (12th April). The details of this and what it means can be found, here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-sets-out-roadmap-to-cautiously-ease-lockdown-restrictions. But like everyone else, I feel really strongly that we must not leave this to chance and we must all play our part locally by continuing to follow the rules and whilst enjoying the easing of restrictions, do so responsibly to help reduce transmission and drive these infection figures down further. With the best will in the world, you can put lots of capacity in place around testing, vaccination and enforcement, but succeeding also relies on us all playing our part in this important effort and the onus is on each and every one of us – we all have a personal responsibility to follow the guidance and do right by each other. As a community, we must see this through