Issue - meetings

40.1     The Board considered a report on the updated East Sussex Outbreak Control Plan (OCP).

40.2     Darrell Gale, Director of Public Health, outlined that the OCP was unfortunately already out of date following the announcement to remove of restrictions on 21 February 2022, which will bring to an end the local testing and contact tracing partnerships. The updated OCP brings together learning throughout the pandemic across all settings. There has been a lot of learning locally and nationally which will be incorporated into the learning to live with Covid strategy.

40.3     The World Health Organisation will decide when the status of the pandemic will change to endemic, and the pandemic may last another 12-18 months. There will be a need to reset the Public Health offer as the Covid pandemic moves towards becoming endemic.

40.4     The Board asked if the additional resources provided by central Government will cease now that national restrictions have been removed. As most health and care settings continue to have some restrictions in place, the Board asked whether the NHS and Public Health have a communications plan in place to cover this.

40.5     Darrell Gale outlined that the Contain Outbreak Management Fund (COMF) funding can be carried over into the new financial year, but other additional funding has ceased. Currently there is no guidance on whether there is any national funding to bid for in the event of future outbreaks. Public Health has informally put together some communications on current concerns, and the easing of some restrictions, and will work with NHS partners on this.

40.6     The Board asked if there is a correlation between the prevalence of Covid infections in areas of higher population densities and vaccination rates.

40.7     Darrell Gale responded that there is a correlation between lower rates of vaccination in more deprived areas and higher rates of infection.

40.8     The County Councils Network (CCN) has identified East Sussex as one of the most deprived counties. Councillor Webb asked for further information on the other four most deprived counties according to the CCN. Darrell Gale agreed to find out which other four counties are identified as the most deprived and advise Councillor Webb. Councillor Barnes commented that there are pockets of deprivation in rural areas where the Super Output Areas can cover large geographical areas.

40.9     The Board RESOLVED to:

1) review and approve the update of the East Sussex Outbreak Control Plan contained in Appendix 1; and

2) receive an update East Sussex Outbreak Control Plan at its 19 July 2022 meeting.