Health board hears how removing restrictions has led to increasing COVID-19 rates in Calderdale

Removing most of the COVID-19 restrictions has led to increasing case rates in Calderdale, a health scrutiny board heard.
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Coun Mike Barnes (Lab, Skircoat), hearing most transmission was through schools and at home, wondered if the vaccination booster programme be aimed more at teachers.

But Public Health consultant Ken Barnsley said the booster programme was laid out nationally with focus on reducing impact of the disease on those likely to be worse affected.

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Coun Barnes, speaking at Calderdale Council’s Adults, Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board, said it seemed to be that policy was quite happy for transmission rates to be high.

Calderdale has seen a high increase in the number of Covid casesCalderdale has seen a high increase in the number of Covid cases
Calderdale has seen a high increase in the number of Covid cases

Mr Barnsley replied: “I’m not sure we are happy but the national regulations which removed most of the restrictions on the public do have that effect, I think.”

Coun Josh Fenton-Glynn (Lab, Calder) said the pace care staff had been vaccinated at was “nothing short of remarkable” and said the point was valid about vaccinating school staff – there was a bit of flexibility with leftover doses from vaccination sessions, as there had been earlier in the programme, but the decision as a whole was not in the council’s gift.

Good progress had been made vaccinating school age groups which had been approved and mask-wearing and social-distancing was being recommended, be he lamented removal of some restrictions.

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“Common sense, easy regulations were dropped and that had made all local authorities’ jobs difficult and we are seeing that expressed in Calderdale,” said Coun Fenton-Glynn, who is Cabinet member for Adult Services and Wellbeing.

Director of Adult Services and Wellbeing, Iain Baines, said the effective deadline for front line care staff to have mandatory double vaccination had passed and although the council initially feared losing up to 130 staff who for various reasons could not have or did not want the vaccination, the figure was 32.

In response to Colin Hutchinson (Lab, Skircoat), Mr Baines said that there was still some isolation capability the council could use outside of care homes.

Having external isolation beds had been key to Calderdale having a lower number of care home deaths than other authorities in the earlier stages of the pandemic, he said.

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Mr Baines said there were currently two COVID-19 outbreaks in residential settings and one in supported living accommodation.

Mr Barnsley had said case rates were still very, very high and were driven by transmission in schools and Calderdale had one of the highest case rates in the country for over 60s, with the vaccines weakening but not breaking the link between the virus and serious illness.

Guidance had been given to families of school age children of how they should respond if a child was living in a house where they or another in the household tested positive for COVID.

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