Calderdale Council receiving high volume of coronavirus calls with plans in place if outbreak escalates

Last night (Thursday, February 27), Calderdale Council’s Director of Public Health Paul Butcher reported to Adults, Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board councillors what preparations were being taken and answered their questions on related issues.

Mr Butcher said the situation was a changing one – the briefing was a “point in time” one – but at this point there had been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Calderdale.

However, the council had been receiving a high number of calls about it.

“The public perception of risk is probably greater than the actual risk.

“The Public Health team is receiving a high volume of calls about COVID-19 from external agencies, with a dozen calls received in the last two days.

“Concern appears to be highest in the education sector at present, largely due to the rapidly developing situation in Italy following half-term ski-ing holidays.

“The Communications Team are also receiving calls concerning COVID-19 from local and national press teams.

“The risk to Calderdale residents should be regarded as moderate, in line with national risk.

“However, it is important to note that we have no ports of entry in Calderdale, which may be a protective factor,” he said.

Board Chair Coun Howard Blagbrough (Con, Brighouse) and fellow councillors asked Mr Butcher a range of questions including procedure if anyone thought they might have contracted coronavirus, measures in place if the virus spread, self-isolation and communities and keeping the public informed.

Coun Blagbrough said it was important the council had to be responsible and not “scaremonger” people but also recommended information and updates should be publicised and made available on the council’s website.

“You have provided us with some assurances that Calderdale is as ready and prepared as anyone can be,” he said.

Mr Butcher said Calderdale’s Public Health team was co-ordinating the response to the heightened national risk in the council and is the primary contact for any COVID-19 inquiries.

He said he would be informed if any cases were confirmed locally in advance of release of that information to the public.

Calderdale Gold Command – senior staff and elected members ready to respond to serious situations – will be activated next week with updates on a changing situation reported to the Cabinet lead for Public Health, Coun Faisal Shoukat (Lab, Park), the corporate leadership team, Cabinet and health partners.

Mr Butcher’s team had provided the latest guidance to relevant directorates within the council and partner agencies, including schools and colleges.

“The Public Health team are working closely with our colleagues in the NHS – Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, GPs and the Clinical Commissioning Group – and Public Health England to ensure a co-ordinated response in Calderdale.

“There are plans in place to scale up the system level response should the level of risk rise.

“This includes the provision of personal protective equipment to relevant frontline staff should it be required,” said Mr Butcher.

He said the risk to business continuity was increasing and discussions had taken place about how the council could manage any impact on it.

“This may include direct impact due to staff absence at scale or indirect impact, for example if any schools close and staff have carer commitments as a result, or if any mutual aid is required either within Calderdale or more generally within the public sector regionally,” said Mr Butcher.

He said this also extended to exploring the impact on supply chains for local businesses.