Agenda item

28.1.      The Board considered a report seeking approval of the refreshed East Sussex Outbreak Control Plan.

28.2.      The Board asked what the future would be for the testing sites and the mobile testing units during 2021.

28.3.      Darrell Gale confirmed that testing will be needed alongside vaccination sites for some considerable time to come yet. The testing capacity in East Sussex includes a core of mobile test sites, which will this week be in Heathfield and Hastings, that are deployed in locations that ensure there is a wide geographic spread of testing available and that testing is available in those areas where numbers are increasing.

28.4.      Darrell Gale explained that the current test sites are offering the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that take 24 hours or more to get a result but are more accurate than lateral flow tests. Lateral flow testing give an indicative result within about half an hour and can be used for mass testing, such as has been used in Liverpool; used in care homes to allow relatives to visit care home residents; and used where there has been an outbreak, such as in Medway. Discussions are ongoing whether there is the need in East Sussex to scale up lateral flow testing given the logistics needed, but currently there does not appear to be the need to do so.

28.5.      The Board asked for an update on the two Sussex Health and Care Partnership BAME COVID-19 disparity programme workstreams set up to reduce illness and mortality amongst BAME health and care workers and the BAME general population.

28.6.      Darrell Gale said that the two workstreams will be reporting early in the new year, as they still require further work. This is because the workstreams are relying on very dated data from the 2011 census survey to understand the communities, so more work had to be done initially to update this information. One of the workstreams includes a needs assessment of the whole of Sussex of the BAME communities.

28.7.      The Board asked how the previous report into the impact of COVID-19 on the BAME community by Hastings Voluntary Actions was commissioned, as the report did not include the experiences of the BAME health and care workers and the report’s Board did not have any women on it.

28.8.      Darrell Gale said he did not know the detail of the HVA report or its remit, however, he said he would liaise outside the meeting to understand more about the concerns of the BAME community in Hastings had with the report and how best they can be engaged with across the county. He agreed it was unusual to have a panel comprising solely of men.

28.9.      The Board asked for more information on how the vaccine will be rolled out.

28.10.   Darrell Gale said that the priority groups and logistics for the roll out of the vaccine are changing daily. The Pfizer vaccine is distributed in large batches of 975 and has to be stored at a low temperature, so it is going to be sent to hospital trusts first, where it will be  administered to elderly, vulnerable patients who are in hospital and being discharged back to the community. Spare dosages will be given to staff. As more are received they will be given to care home residents and staff and other vulnerable groups by age and other conditions

28.11.   Dr David Warden added that the majority of Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in East Sussex have today signed enhanced service contracts to deliver the vaccine to patients in the community. He said that all patients will be assigned a vaccine site, although it may be some time yet before they begin delivering the vaccine from these sites. This is due to the amount of vaccines available and the need to cold store the Pfizer vaccine, but the system will be ready for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine once it is available.

28.12.   The Board asked what the Director of Public Health thought the Government will announce on 16th December with regard to COVID-19 restrictions over Christmas.

28.13.   Darrell Gale said the five days of Christmas were of concern, as the additional freedoms will lead to far more social mixing resulting in an increase in infections in the New Year. This could lead to a new lockdown in 2021. His advice over Christmas was that it was best not to travel or meet in groups unless it was necessary, such as if a relative was frail or for religious observance. He said he was not sure what would be announced on the 16th, but said that efforts would continue locally to reduce the rates of infection as much as possible whilst also allowing people to continue the interactions allowed in Tier 2.

28.14.   The Board asked what the testing contact rates the Public Health Team was achieving.

28.15.   Darrell Gale said the Local Tracing Partnership operates across Sussex and has been showing great success in East and West Sussex, however, he had not yet received data for the first few weeks of contact tracing to confirm this. He clarified the Local Tracing Partnership is only contacting those cases that national NHS Test and Trace service had not been able to find. These are often quite complex cases but the local knowledge and accessibility of the Local Tracing Partnership – i.e., contact numbers can be left on answer phones for people to call back, unlike with Test and Trace – makes it better placed to trace these individuals.

28.16.   The Board asked whether the Public Health Team was receiving an acceptable level of data from NHS Test and Trace and whether it impacted on the work the Team was trying to do.

28.17.   Darrell Gale said the data from NHS Test and Trace has improved significantly and the local Test and Trace convenor is very responsive to the needs of local Public Health Teams to get information back quickly. He said data was now being received rapidly enough that the Public Health Team is getting information before it is published nationally.

28.18.   The Board asked whether there was anything that could be done in the rest of East Sussex to stop the transmission from Hastings and Rother.

28.19.   Darrell Gale said infections rates had doubled in Hastings over the past week. These are infections picked up during lockdown, which meant people were mixing more than they should have done during the lockdown. The increases have occurred in a place that has up to now had a very low rate of infection and very little immunity, meaning that the virus will be able to spread very quickly. Infections in Hastings and Rother have been recorded in schools and care homes but more than 50% are not related to a particular setting and have occurred randomly. College age and working age adults have been more affected than the elderly.

28.20.   The Director of Public Health said that the response to the outbreak would include:

• greater efforts to increase testing;
• calling outbreak meetings with schools where an outbreak has occurred;
• sending out communications warning people not to meet with others outside their household unless they have to, and to avoid shopping in crowded places;
• considering whether certain Christmas events should go ahead if they involve congregating in large numbers; and
• supporting ESHT to manage the expected surge in demand on hospital services.

28.21.   The Board asked if there is more that can be done to encourage people to get tested, particularly in Hastings and Rother.

28.22.   Darrell Gale said outbreaks have tended to be random and occurring outside of places of work or congregation, therefore, people making the effort to go and get tested is very important to help contain the virus. He said there is a lot of testing capacity at the walk-in site at the Ridge in Hastings;  the drive and walk-in site at Wainwright road in Bexhill; and the mobile testing unit that is currently in Hastings. NHS Test and Trace also has the lab capacity to process the tests. He therefore advised anyone with even the mild symptoms to get tested, and isolate if necessary, to help stop the onward spread of the virus.

28.23.   The Board RESOLVED to:

1) approve the revised East Sussex Outbreak Control Plan; and

2) receive a further report at its 2^nd March 2021 meeting on the development of the Plan.