The last few days have seen a number of very significant announcements and developments in our ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic and I wanted to say something about each of these below:
The Prime Minister unveils the ‘roadmap’ back to normality:
Very welcomely, after what has been an incredibly tough year for everyone, we are now at a stage in this pandemic where we can look ahead to an easing of restrictions. Indeed, thanks to the hard work and enormous sacrifices of the British people, as well as the incredible success of our vaccination programme, I am delighted that the Government is now in a position to cautiously start easing ‘lockdown’ restrictions nationally. With that in mind, I welcome the Government’s ‘roadmap’ to guide us cautiously, but irreversibly, towards reclaiming our freedoms and way of life - something we all, without question, wish to see happen.
That means that, from the 8th March, restrictions will begin to be eased in four steps, starting with a return to face-to-face education. At all stages, any easing of restrictions will be guided by the latest data, not dates, to assess the impact of previous steps, ensuring restrictions do not have to be re-imposed. Indeed, there will be four tests that must be passed before progress can be made: the vaccine deployment continues successfully; vaccines are reducing hospitalisations and deaths in those vaccinated; infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS; and the assessment of risk is not changed by new variants of concern.
This cautious approach, which considers the data and makes an assessment based on the four tests, is the right one and one that I fully support. As modelling has shown, unfortunately we cannot escape the fact that lifting ‘lockdown’ will result in more cases, hospitalisations and deaths, but this would happen whenever it is lifted. If we get the timing right, these increases can be significantly limited and I believe the cautious approach set out by the Prime Minister will achieve this. 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.
You can find more details about each of the stages of the plan, here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-sets-out-roadmap-to-cautiously-ease-lockdown-restrictions.
Infection rates in Corby are disappointingly creeping up again – boosting testing capacity to help break the chains of infection should be reviewed:
As local residents who have followed this will recall, a few weeks ago (see: https://www.votepursglove.co.uk/news/troubling-disproportionately-high-covid-19-case-rates-corby-still-persist-my-thoughts-and), I suggested that we ought to consider the introduction of mass testing to address the stubbornly higher rates of infection we had been seeing in Corby. At the time, it was felt by the public health experts that given the cause of the infections was generally believed to be through household related transmission, and the figures were coming down, albeit gradually, plus extra testing capacity was at that time being made available to businesses and through the lateral flow testing centre at Lodge Park Sports Centre, this was not required. Since then, the figures have generally been coming down by roughly 20% a week, but worryingly, the figures have been ticking up again slightly over the course of the past week, and the figures in Kettering and Wellingborough are slightly higher too, and the same applies in East Northamptonshire, albeit to a lesser extent. So, I have asked our local public health leaders to meet with me urgently to discuss how we best address this and have strongly suggested that the stance on requesting mass testing from the Government for our area be reviewed.
Obviously, I will provide further updates on these discussions as I have them, but I think we all want to avoid a situation whereby our area might find itself in an extended period of restrictions, if we cannot drive these infection rates down. I don’t know if that is even a realistic possibility, and this being relevant is still some way off, but I really don’t think we want to chance it. As I have maintained throughout, we must all play our part by adhering to the rules, reducing contact with others wherever possible, and isolating where necessary, but it seems to me that boosting testing capacity is a very helpful tool in identifying chains of infection, so that direct, targeted action can then be taken to break them, exactly as happened in Liverpool earlier in the pandemic. Ultimately, in the circumstances, I think we have no choice but to consider the testing option, particularly at a time when nationally the trend is that rates of infection are falling.
On a related point, ahead of the Budget next week, I have asked the Chancellor to review the support available to facilitate people being able to self-isolate, and whether sufficient resources are available locally to achieve this, so that there are absolutely no excuses for not doing so. I should add here that I have also relayed various other pieces of local feedback to him about the package of support for people and businesses in the context of the ‘roadmap’ period and I hope he will be responsive to this.
The vaccination roll-out successfully continues…
Like everyone, I am incredibly proud of the progress that the UK is making in vaccinating the population and I am delighted that the Government met the goal of offering a vaccine to priority groups 1-4, over 15 million people, by the 15th February. Globally, this means the UK has vaccinated in total a higher proportion of the population than all but three countries and two British Overseas Territories.
Our world leading vaccination programme has truly been a UK-wide effort and I pay tribute to all those who are helping to make it happen, both locally and nationally – they really are doing a remarkable job and we are all extremely grateful.
It is right that the Government’s priority is to save as many lives as possible, as quickly as possible, while also reducing the hospitalisations that are creating such pressure on the NHS. Vaccines are our way out of this pandemic, and so I am encouraged by the progress we have made towards reaching this important milestone. The next phase of the vaccine programme has now begun, and vaccinations are being offered to JCVI priority groups 5 and 6; people aged 65 to 69, and to those who are clinically vulnerable. While supply continues to be the rate limiting factor and the roll-out is not without its challenges, the Government’s target is to offer first doses of the vaccination to all priority groups in the first phase (groups 1-9) by the 15th April, and then to expand the programme so all adults can be offered a first dose by the end of July. With what we have achieved so far, I do believe this is within reach and we should go forward with confidence.
With thousands of GP services, and hundreds of hospital sites and community pharmacies offering vaccinations, alongside new large vaccination centres, capacity to deliver vaccinations is expanding all the time. I am keeping a close eye on deployment here in Corby & East Northamptonshire - with the latest update meeting on it held for local MPs earlier this afternoon - and if you have any concerns, please let me know and I will feed these back to Ministers and the COVID-19 Response Team for Northamptonshire, who are leading the remarkable effort locally.
But we need a vaccination facility in the Oundle area:
One issue that regrettably remains outstanding is that of the situation in the Oundle area, which falls within the remit of NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), rather than NHS Northamptonshire CCG. As I have maintained for some time now, I am not happy about the fact that my constituents in that part of the constituency are having to trapse all the way to Peterborough to be vaccinated and I want to see a more convenient arrangement put in place for them. To that end, I am keeping the pressure up and have asked for a further urgent meeting to discuss these concerns with the relevant public health leaders at that CCG, having given them long enough now to overcome this initial teething difficulty. So, should a solution not be forthcoming imminently, I will approach Ministers to ask them to intervene – overall, whilst the vaccination programme is going exceptionally well, I share local frustration about this particular aspect and want it sorted without delay.
A final comment:
Clearly, the scale of the challenge ahead is huge, but I am confident that the ambitious ‘roadmap’ and vaccination goals will be achieved. With the ‘roadmap’ now in place, we have a clear plan to finally throw off the shackles of these restrictions that I know have been hugely challenging for us all – and to that end, the way ahead must be gradual and irreversible. Of course, all of this work will take time, so for now we must all continue to play our part by staying at home and abiding by the restrictions to suppress the virus and protect the NHS as they carry out this vital vaccination work. Crucially, however, there is some much-needed and fresh hope that there is now meaningful light at the end of the tunnel and the end of all this is in sight. Of course, as soon as I have further updates, I will be sure to share them here.