Residents in County Durham are being reminded about the importance of staying at home during the Coronavirus outbreak.

Cllr Lucy Hovvels MBE

With the Easter bank holiday fast approaching, Durham County Council are asking you to continue to stay at home and only leave the house for essential reasons outlined by the government in order to save lives.

Essential reasons

These essential reasons are shopping for basic necessities, which should be done as infrequently as possible, one form of exercise per day, any medical need, or to travel for work purposes but only when this cannot be done from home.

Staying at home as much as possible, especially during the Easter break, is vital to stopping further spread of Coronavirus and protecting members of the community who are at risk. Those who do not show any symptoms can still carry and spread the virus to others.

Fun activities

However, staying at home does not mean the holiday break cannot be enjoyed. Durham County Council are offering a number of activities and services to keep families entertained together during the stay at home period, including a wide range of online education and leisure activities for children.

Residents are encouraged to take care of their mental health during the stay at home period. There is a dedicated page of advice which features five top tips for mental health during the Coronavirus outbreak. This includes limiting news reading and seeking information from reputable sources, keeping in touch with friends, family and colleagues, ensuring to eat and exercise well, maintaining a healthy work from home routine, and focusing on what you can control.

A full list of fun resources, activities, as well as information and advice on staying at home, can be found on our Coronavirus – latest news and advice web page.

Museums at home

Popular attractions, such as Bowes Museum, Raby Castle and museums under The Auckland Project, are offering a ‘museums at home’ experience. At-home visitors can explore collections online, listen to oral histories, bake with traditional Easter recipes, as well access a number of resources for families including craft packs and learning materials.

Prayer services

Meanwhile, Durham Cathedral is offering virtual services which are being live streamed daily for morning and evening prayer. The cathedral is providing links to Church of England worship and prayer, as well as downloadable activity resources for children.

Easter egg hunts and activities

Visit County Durham is also hosting a number of online Easter activities including an online egg hunt, where families can follow the clues and discover the highlights of County Durham. They will also be providing a number of Easter activity content, including colouring sheets of Durham’s picturesque attractions, trivia games and Easter baking.

All content, and information about virtual services and museum tours can be accessed through the This is Durham – Easter web page.

Children will be able to enjoy the library service’s popular storytelling sessions. A series of audio recordings of stories and poems will be broadcasted from DCC’s YouTube channel, starting from Thursday 9 April at 2pm, with a performance of Chicken Licken. Broadcasts will run weekly until 30 April.

Bunny Bop

Wharton and Hardwick Parks will be hosting a Bunny Bop on Saturday, 11 April, in conjunction with children’s entertainer Nikki Noo Noo through Facebook Live. The free sessions will be at 10am for Hardwick Park and 2pm for Wharton Park, which can be accessed by joining the group Parks Bunny Bop on Facebook.

Postpone home projects

While the stay at home period is a good opportunity for residents to have a clear-out, or to do some DIY or gardening, residents are reminded that all Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) are closed under government guidance.

To keep streets clean and safe during this time, and to assist bin crews who are working to prioritise and maintain general waste, residents are asked to consider postponing home projects. Where this is not reasonable, residents are being asked to store unwanted items indoors, or consider home composting garden waste, until HWRCs can be reopened and waste can be disposed of appropriately.

Bin collections

There will be no change to bin collections over Easter or during the Bank Holiday and residents are reminded to put their bin out as normal. Bins should be placed at the kerbside by 7am on their usual collection day. To find out your collection day, enter your postcode in the My Durham search

Vital that everyone plays their part

Cllr Lucy Hovvels MBE, Cabinet member for adult and health services, said: “Now more than ever, particularly when people may wish to spend the Easter break outdoors, it is vital that every resident keeps following government guidelines and stays at home to stop the spread of the virus and save lives.

“Even with the temptation of nice weather, it is important that we all continue to play a part in helping to prevent the spread of Coronavirus and protect those in our community who are vulnerable and at risk.

“There are still plenty of exciting things to do to keep yourself and your family entertained while staying at home during the Easter period, and we are working hard to ensure services are maintained and our residents are supported.”

What is the virus and the current picture?

The outbreak of novel coronavirus was initially named as 2019-nCoV. Since then, the World Health Organization (WHO) has named the virus ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2’ (SARS-CoV-2), while the infectious disease associated with the virus is now referred to as COVID-19. The WHO has announced that the outbreak is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and at this time has not declared the outbreak as a global pandemic.

As with other respiratory illnesses, symptoms of COVID-19 can include a runny nose, sore throat, cough, and fever.  It can be more severe for some people and can lead to pneumonia or breathing difficulties.  More rarely, the disease can be fatal.  Older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as diabetes and heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus.

According to the WHO, 26 February 2020 saw the first time since the detection of the first case in China that there had been more new cases of COVID-19 reported from other countries.

As of 27 February 2020, there were 78,630 confirmed cases and 2,747 deaths in China, and 486 confirmed cases and 14 deaths in Europe (12 occurring in Italy). Of the confirmed cases in Europe, 15 had been detected in the United Kingdom out of a total 7,690 people tested in the UK. There have been no reported deaths caused by COVID-19 in the UK.

No confirmed cases have been detected in County Durham or the North East region.

What is the public health response?

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Public Health England (PHE) have published a range of materials providing information and advice for the public, specific sectors, and health professionals. Links to the collections are provided at the bottom of the page.

For the public, this collection includes:

• a web page which is updated daily at 2pm and provides current information on the virus and advice
• guidance for travellers returning from a number of countries, and
• advice for those intending to travel outside the UK.

For specific sectors, this includes education, employers, social or community care and residential settings, and transport.

For health professionals, this includes epidemiology, guidance on investigation of cases, self-isolation for patients, infection prevention and control, primary care, providing information to the public, and guidance for first responders.

On 10 February 2020 the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care introduced regulations to reduce the risk of further human-to-human transmission in the UK by keeping individuals in isolation where public health professionals believe there is a reasonable risk an individual may have the virus.

Well established close working arrangements are in place between Durham County Council and Public Health England for health protection outbreaks and will continue during this outbreak.

Durham County Council has established a formal internal COVID-19 planning group that aims to coordinate the planning and response to the virus and fulfil the statutory role in assuring the Council and Health and Wellbeing Board that arrangements are in place to protect the health of the local population. The group, chaired by the DPH and meeting weekly, includes membership from Communications, Civil Contingencies Unit, Partnerships and Community Engagement, Commissioning, Adult Care, Housing, Children and Young Peoples’ Services, and Occupational Health and Safety. Corporate Management Team are receiving weekly updates.

The group has established links to external partners including County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, Durham Constabulary, Durham Community Action, the local Clinical Commissioning Groups and the Local Resilience Forum. The group will report to Corporate Management Team for strategic oversight and where decision-making authority is required.

The group is ensuring that information and advice from DHSC and PHE is shared appropriately and promptly with relevant internal and external partners.

Immediate actions initiated by the group includes a review of business continuity plans and a table-top exercise on business continuity management considerations in an escalating outbreak scenario delivered for Extended Management Team.

The group will continue to provide updates to Councillors and officers and is ensuring that the Council is well placed to deal with enquiries from members of the public.

General information for the public:
http://www.gov.uk/guidance/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-information-for-the-public

Travel advice:
http://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus

Collection of guidance for non-clinical settings:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/covid-19-guidance-for-non-clinical-settings-and-thepublic

Employers:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid19