ON MONDAY, Boris Johnson announced a three-tier system for managing local lockdowns, as coronavirus cases continue to rise across the UK.
Speaking in parliament, Johnson said the traffic-light-style plan would simplify the variety of restrictions, using medium, high and very high alert levels.
Currently, Wokingham borough sits within tier one, for medium alert. With 50 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in the latest week, Wokingham sits below the national average of 77 per 100,000 people.
The medium alter category sticks with current restrictions: the rule of six and venues closing by 10pm.
The high risk level sees an increase in restrictions, with indoor mixing between households banned, and the very high alert stops all mixing between households, inside and outside, with pubs and restaurants also closing.
Cllr Charles Margetts, executive member for health, wellbeing and adult services at the borough council said they are planning for the worst but hoping for the best.
He told Wokingham.Today: “We’ve got a robust plan to cope in the future. There are four sections: the care home task force, the voluntary sector response, a track and trace plan and a specialist task force to work with schools in the same way we worked with care homes back in spring.”
Cllr Margetts said the council is prepared to move 80 full-time staff into coronavirus response roles if the borough reaches a “worst case scenario”.
“That would mean older people being asked to shield again, and us as a council being responsible for around 50% of track and trace within the borough,” he explained.
At the moment, the council is responsible for 15% of track and trace, they are expecting this to increase, Cllr Margetts said.
The move to local-led contact tracing has been supported by the Local Government Association (LGA).
James Jamieson, LGA chairman said: “Local contact tracing services are supporting NHS Test and Trace in many areas, with latest figures showing they reached 97.1% of close contacts who were asked to self-isolate.
“The government is right to recognise the urgent need to build upon these successful local efforts to address the current inadequacies of the national scheme.”
The support for schools is also increasing, as the virus spread continues among the community.
“It’s about getting the correct advice to headteachers, and providing them with the support needed to manage outbreaks,” Cllr Margetts added. “Yes, case numbers are rising, but overall we’re in a good place.
“We’re asking residents to stick to the government guidelines — and let’s get through this period.”
Cllr Margetts also called for more Government funding to help manage the spread of coronavirus.
“The Government passed the winter care plan last week, giving councils 195 new actions to follow — there was no extra money at all, not one penny, which is extremely disappointing.
“It’s unrealistic to expect councils to bear the burden of the extra tasks with no funding.
“Out of the 195, we were planning to do a good chunk of them anyway. We have the resources to cope, but many other councils will not.
“But I think we will do a better job locally than Westminster because we know our patch.”
As the winter flu season begins, Cllr Margetts said coronavirus is “under control in our care homes”.
“We have minimal Covid in our care homes. Last week there was one resident who came to us with coronavirus from the hospital.
“We were prepared to accept them. We have a lot more PPE and sanitiser than we did back in March.
“We’re very aware and wary of the threats, but we’ve been able to keep it out of our care homes, unlike other areas in the country, such as Sussex.”
And with the care home task force, Cllr Margetts is hopeful the virus will be kept at bay.
