Health

After the announcement on Saturday 27th November by the Prime Minister that cases of the new Omicron  COVID-19 variant had been found in the UK, new measure have been put in place from today.

Face coverings

Public and staff are now required to wear face coverings in a range of public areas including:

• shops, supermarkets & pharmacies;
• shopping centres;
• post offices, banks & building societies
• premises providing personal care and beauty treatments such as barbers, hair salons, tattoo and piercing studios, nail salons, massage centres;
• takeaways without space for consumption of food or drink on premises;
• public transport;
• any car, van or HGV, during a professional driving lesson, a formal driving test, or during one of the practical tests for giving driving instruction

This does not apply to people who are unable to wear a face covering, which includes children under the age of 11 and people who cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability.

You can find out more on Face coverings, when to wear one and exemptions on the  Government website.

The reasons why some people are less able to wear face coverings may not always be visible, so we wold ask people to be considerate.

Booster vaccinations

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has announced it will be rolling out the COVID-19 booster vaccination programme to all adults over the age of 18, as well as reducing the gap between the second dose and a booster.

The Committee has also recommended children aged 12 to 15 should be invited for a second dose three months after their first.

Anyone eligible, who hasn’t yet had their first or second vaccination jab is being urged to get them now.

Use this link to book you vaccinations.

Self-isolating

Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms you should stay at home and self-isolate immediately. You should arrange to have a PCR test as soon as possible. If this PCR test result is positive, you must continue to self-isolate.

If you do not have COVID-19 symptoms, but you have a positive PCR test result, you must stay at home and self-isolate.

If you live in the same household as someone with COVID-19, you must stay at home and self-isolate if you are not fully vaccinated or if they have been identified as a suspected or confirmed case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

If you live in the same household as someone with COVID-19 that has not been identified as a suspected or confirmed case of the Omicron variant, and you are fully vaccinated or aged under 18 years and 6 months, you are not required to self-isolate.

More about self-isolating.

More information

Information is also available on the Council website.

Sefton Council Leader ‘confident’ Borough’s people & businesses will continue to protect each other as new COVID-19 variant announced

Sefton Council’s Cabinet today approved a Dynamic Purchasing System for commissioning Residential Rehabilitation for drug treatment and recovery.

Service providers will be invited to join the new system which, by fixing prices for similar client groups will cut down the time and cost of placement negotiations. Costing £270,000 for three years from April 2022, the Dynamic Purchasing System will also enable the Council to take advantage of changes in the marketplace which may take place over the coming years.

Completion rate

Sefton Council sees Residential Rehabilitation as an integral part of any drug treatment and recovery system and a vital option for some people requiring treatment for substance dependency. Between June 2019 and March 2021, Sefton saw a completion rate of 78% of placements.

The number of admissions almost doubled, from 34 in 2019/20 to 64 in 2020/21, in line with the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, which is thought to have resulted of behaviour change and greater vulnerabilities during the pandemic. The increased rate was sustained, with 33 placements in the first six months in 2021/22.

Specialist interventions

Cllr Ian Moncur, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing said: “Dependent drug and alcohol users require a range of services and interventions that can include residential rehabilitation, along with specialist clinical and medical programmes and psychosocial interventions.

“Our Integrated Substance Misuse: Assessment, Treatment and Recovery Service provides these users with a care pathway, which starts with community rehabilitation but can require residential rehabilitation. This enables people to make a sustained recovery in a safe and therapeutic setting.

“It is a cost-effective service that delivers results, but it comes at a price.

“Today’s decision has put the Council in a position where we can continue achieving positive results but also, with the Dynamic Purchasing System in place continue commissioning services flexibly, while also taking advantage of potential changes in the marketplace over the coming years.”

Further information

Further information about local services for drug treatment and recovery can be found at www.merseycare.nhs.uk/our-services/south-sefton/ambition or by calling Ambition Bootle on 0151 9445334 or Ambition Southport on 01704 534759.

Cheshire and Merseyside’s Directors of Public Health have issued a joint statement on the emergence of the new Omicron Variant and the ‘difficult winter’ we all face.

In their statement, the nine Directors of Public Health stress that Omicron is an emerging situation, but say it is best to remain cautious. The go on to say we should work together to ensure that the impact can be minimised as much as possible.

They say the most important thing is that people continue to do many of the things they’ve already been doing, such as getting both doses of the vaccine, getting a booster shot, wearing a mask, getting tested, ventilating spaces and self-isolating when required.

These measures will ensure that the infection rate in Cheshire and Merseyside doesn’t get out of control.

And they thank the people of Merseyside and Cheshire for their efforts so far and say they ‘blown away’ by the resilience, kindness, and commitment seen from our local communities.

You can read the full statement by Cheshire and Merseyside’s Directors of Public Health here.