New Milton Advertiser 11th Dec 2020

4 · Friday 11th December 2020

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New partnership to help free hospital beds News

Forest Covid vaccinations could start next week

NHS and social care services in Dorset are teaming up to help people out of hospital more quickly and recover in their own homes. A new system, Home First, is in place to help reduce the length of patients’ stays in hospitals and give addi-

tional support for up to six weeks to aid their recovery. It brings together NHS staff from Dorset’s acute hospitals including Bourne- mouth, community services provider Dorset HealthCare, and social care workers from BCP Council.

Totton surgery will begin programme at town football stadium

The partnership said it was still “waiting to hear if there is going to be a large vaccination site locally to us”. It added: “The expectation is still that the vaccinations will not start for most people until 2021 and it will take some time to vaccinate everyone who is eligible. “Work is under way to pre- pare for the rollout, and good progress is being made.” The organising body, the NHS South Eastern Hamp- shire Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), has remained tight-lipped on the identity of a larger local hub. However, the CCG did tell the A&T that GPs and other primary care staff have been put on standby, and more practices across the country will join in phases during De- cember. In Dorset, civic chiefs have also booked out the Bourne- mouth International Centre as an injection venue in anticipa- tion of the widespread roll-out of the vaccine. The NHS said staff were working “around the clock” na- tionally to overcome logistical difficulties in delivering and administering the Pfizer vac- cine. It needs to be stored at -70C before being thawed, and can only be moved four times within that cold chain before being used. There was national fanfare when the first doses of the Pfiz- er vaccine were administered on Tuesday. Grandmother Margaret Keenan (90) became the first in the world to receive the jab following its clinical ap-

He said he felt “absolutely won- derful”. Southampton General, Royal Bournemouth and Lymington New Forest hospitals have not yet made any announcements. Only 50 UK hospitals across the country were given the vac- cine initially because current supplies are relatively low, and only a few vaccination sites have been confirmed. Vaccinations cannot come quickly enough for some, in- cluding Cyril Teed (88), from Brockenhurst, who was hoping to get the jab soon so he could attend a family funeral shortly before Christmas. He said: “I would happily go to Portsmouth or Dorchester if we were invited to do so – the dis- tance does not matter to me.” In the House of Commons, New Forest West MP Sir Des- mond Swayne warned that ant-vaccination conspiracy theories could deter some from opting for it. He called on government ministers and their families to get the first doses to show it was safe, and encouraged “icons of popular culture” onto the airwaves to help persuade the public. Meanwhile, Dorset health chiefs have confirmed they have set up a mobile test- ing centre in the Two Rivers- meet leisure centre car park in Christchurch. The facility is offering ap- pointments which must be booked via the government’s national online portal. Access to the centre can be by car or foot, and it will operate two days a week. fall in new weekly Covid-19 cases which stood at 265 on Tuesday, a fall from 379 last week and 691 the week before. It meant the conurbation’s infection rate stood at 67, down from 95.9 previously. The total of cases so far reached 7,493. The infection figures are for the numbers of people with at least one lab-confirmed posi- tive Covid-19 test result in the preceding seven-day period.

BY JON WALLER

PREPARATIONS to admin- ister the Covid-19 vaccine are gathering pace with three Tot- ton surgeries among the first to roll out the New Forest pro- gramme as early as next week. The New Medical Horizons Partnership – which compris- es Forestgate Surgery and the town’s health centre – and medics from the Testvale Sur- gery have said they will start an initial 975 vaccine shots at AFC Totton’s Snows Stadium in Salisbury Road. Initially, people will be con- tacted if they are among the first to get the jab, and exact dates and timings are yet to be confirmed by the surgeries. The first run will go to old- er care home residents, care home workers and some who are housebound and vulnera- ble. A more widespread opera- tion is expected to kick off next year. 19 Fir Avenue, New Milton

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Hampshire’s first vaccine recpient, Michael Tibbs (99), i n Portsmouth

proval at her local hospital in Coventry. The closest to the New For- est was Queen Alexandra Hos-

pital. First through the doors there was Michael Tibbs (99), who served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

Three new deaths in district as infection rate continues to decline THREE more people have died with Covid-19 in the New Forest, according to the latest weekly update – bringing the death toll so far to 151. same day showed – reducing to 69 from 77 last week. A fortnight ago the figure stood at 184. Total cases so far reached 1,962. from 13 last week. Four were in care homes and 17 in hospi- tal. It brought the coronavirus death toll across the conurba- tion to 284.

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All the new fatalities oc- curred in hospital, said the re- port published on Tuesday by the Office for National Statis- tics (ONS). The district’s number of weekly new infections has con- tinued to fall, separate govern- ment figures published on the

It meant the infection rate on Tuesday stood at 38.3 per 100,000 people – the 12th low- est in the UK on that day. The average in England was 149.2. In the BCP Council area, which includes Christchurch, there were 21 deaths – a rise

The provisional figures from the ONS relate to fatalities where Covid-19 was men- tioned on the death certifi- cate up to 27th November but which were registered up to 5th December. The BCP area continued its

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School forced to close as five sta test positive

LOCAL ADVERTISING WORKS! Read by 38,484* local readers

AN outbreak of coronavirus at an infant school forced it to close after five members of staff tested positive. Calmore Infant School in Cal- more, Totton, sent an email to parents at the weekend asking them not to send their young- sters to school on Monday. The letter from acting head teacher Sarah Willes said: “We now have five confirmed cases of Covid-19 in school. These are all staff members. Several staff are in different bubbles and had not had contact with each oth- er.” Mrs Willes explained that all staff had initially suffered with cold symptoms before experi- encing loss of taste and smell. At no time did they have any other Covid symptoms, she added, but had all tested posi- tive for the virus. She reassured parents that none has a severe case. She said: “I have been in con- tact with Public Health Eng- land who have converted our cases to an ‘outbreak’. “This should trigger more CIVIC chiefs in Hampshire are to roll out a local test-and-trace system in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Hampshire County Council and Southampton City Coun- cil will run their own operation from this week, writes Maria Zaccaro of the Local Democra- cy Reporting Service . It means that where the na- tional NHS Test and Trace ser- vice is unable to reach people who have tested positive for Covid-19, local call handlers will take over to contact residents who need to self-isolate. The NHS Test and Trace has come under fire recently as an investigation revealed that, in some areas, just half of close-contacts given to Eng- land’s NHS Test and Trace were reached.

every week * (JICREG June 2019)

Calmore Infant School will stay closed until 16th December at least

help from the local authority, I hope.” The school, which has around 178 pupils, will remain closed until at least 16th December. The term ends on 19th De- cember for the two-week

Christmas break. Mrs Willes added the letter was not designed to cause pan- ic, but she urged parents to keep an eye on children who de- veloped colds and to get them tested if necessary.

Calmore

Cadnam

FORDINGBRIDGE

TOTTON

SOUTHAMPTON

Ashurst

Marchwood

New Forest National Park

HYTHE

LYNDHURST

RINGWOOD

FAWLEY

County launches local test-and-trace system

BEAULIEU

BURLEY

BROCKENHURST

Calshot

BOLDRE

BRANSGORE

Bournemouth Airport

LYMINGTON

NEW MILTON

HIGHCLIFFE

BARTON-ON-SEA

CHRISTCHURCH

MILFORD-ON-SEA

BOURNEMOUTH

Hengistbury Head

From the end of this week people in the Hampshire Coun- ty Council area will receive a phone call from an 01962 num- ber and be given self-isola- tion guidance. The exact date for the roll-out is yet to be re- vealed. The authority urged resi- dents who received a call from this number to answer the phone. The number will show up if the call is missed so resi- dents can call back. HCC said in a statement: “Hampshire is one of many lo- cal authorities that has worked with NHS Test and Trace to set up a local tracing partner- ship which will begin rolling out across the county from the end of this week. “Where the national NHS Test and Trace service is unable

to reach people who have test- ed positive within their usual timeframes, local call handlers will take over – calling from an 01962 number. “Those who have tested pos- itive will be asked to confirm their local contacts and will re- ceive appropriate self-isolation guidance and any additional support they need.” The council said the new sys- tem will play “a crucial role” in protecting communities in Hampshire. It added: “Providing resi- dents with access to prompt and convenient testing, and ensuring their close contacts are traced, is key to preventing further spread of the virus by breaking the chain of infection. We urge anyone who has tested positive to pick up if called.”