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It is Friday evening and I want to talk about Covid 19 in Barnet. I am sorry I didn't manage this earlier.
This week's data, like every week, has grim moments and better moments. I will start with the grim, which is deaths.
This week's data, like every week, has grim moments and better moments. I will start with the grim, which is deaths.
Last year, over the whole year, there were 583 deaths from Covid in Barnet. It was given as a cause on 20% of death certificates. In the first two weeks of Jan, 130 Barnet residents died. Almost a quarter of last year's numbers in a fortnight. It is heartbreaking.
The test data in Barnet shows the number of new cases are going down, but slower than last week. Other sources, like the ONS study, are less encouraging. Hospital admissions are stable but high. Beds are full. So, the lockdown does seem to be working, but slowly.
Still a lot of cases in res care homes. 46 residents and 82 care home workers. I understand that all the care home residents who wanted the vaccine have had it, around 75%. But in older people it takes longer to start to protect, like 21 days. Should kick in soon, which is great
The vaccination rate for care home workers is only 40%. If you are a care home worker and you want info on the vaccine, remember, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers. Please ask - ask me and I will find you the answer, ask your GP, ask the dr at the vax centre.
Stories have power. They tell our histories, they bind us together. They may mix in some truth, but that doesn't make them true, it makes the believable. I hope stories are always important to us, but also facts. Because I hear so many stories about vaccines that are false.
On the positive side, the vaccination roll out is going well. Home vaccination has started, more and more places are opening, and Barnet is getting more vaccine than before. We need because we have the biggest population of any London borough, and the most older people.
We are on course to have vaccinated everybody over 70, everyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable, and all NHS and social care workers, including frontline voluntary sector staff, by Valentines Day, which is great news.
Next comes the over 65s, people aged 16-64 with underlying health conditions, and carers in receipt of carers allowance or if they care for someone whose welfare would be at risk if they got ill. Email your GP so your status as a carer or underlying condition is registered
This website is useful. If you have an underlying condition, but you are pregnant, talk to your doctor when your turn comes. https://www.mobiliseonline.co.uk/carers-guide-to-covid-19-vaccine
We need to talk about grief. So many Barnet residents have lost loved ones in the past year. It has been so hard not to be there, not to gather for funerals, not to be able to hold each other or squeeze a friend's hand. Grief is not a mental illness, but it is hard.
If you would like emotional support, practical help with things like registering the death, or grief counselling, @MindinBarnet can help. It does not matter what how your loved one died, only that it is so hard when we are apart. https://www.mindinbarnet.org.uk/counselling/covid-19-bereavement-support-and-counselling-service/
They have lots of other services too, if you feel you need them. https://www.mindinbarnet.org.uk/
OK. I think that is enough. Stay home, wear a mask, stay 2m apart, wash your hands and ventilate indoor spaces. Look after yourselves. And each other.
