Community News

Testing remains important in reducing the risk of transmission of infection within schools.

This week marks the reopening of certain schools within the city following the summer holidays. Whilst some measures have now been relaxed, it is important that staff and secondary pupils continue to test regularly, maintain appropriate cleaning regimes and keep occupied spaces well ventilated.

As pupils will potentially mix with lots of other people during the summer holidays, all secondary school pupils should receive two on-site lateral flow device tests, three to five days apart, on their return in the Autumn 2021 term. Settings may commence testing from three working days before the start of term and can stagger return of pupils across the first week to manage this. Pupils should then continue to test twice weekly at home until the end of September.

Staff should also undertake twice weekly home tests whenever they are on site until the end of September, when there will be a full review of testing within schools.

If you need to visit a local pop-up asymptomatic testing site, all information can be found on the council website. As always, you can order lateral flow tests straight to your home by visiting the government website.

England remains in Step 4 of the government’s roadmap, meaning guidance emphasising personal judgement and responsibility takes the place of the majority of legal COVID restrictions. We need to remain cautious and remember that the pandemic is not yet over. We must still work together to continue to carefully manage the virus over the coming months. For more information about Step 4 and how you can do your bit to stay safe, please see the gov.uk website here.

Birmingham City Council’s dashboard of Covid-19 information for the week ending 29th August can be seen here.  Across Birmingham, the number of cases decreased this week by 420 cases.

Hospital admissions across the city decreased by 14% from the previous week. There were 19 deaths from COVID-19 reported for the week in Birmingham, which is 1 more than the previous week.

All adults who don’t have symptoms are encouraged to test regularly using the free rapid lateral flow tests. You can order free at-home tests here, and testing kits are also available at our local network of community pharmacies.

Spread appears to be primarily occurring through household, social and workplace interactions, but it isn’t inevitable and www.germdefence.org can help.

People aged 16 and over are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Some children aged 12 to 15 who have a higher risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19, or who live with someone at high risk of catching it, are also eligible for the vaccine.

Adults aged 18 or over can book a vaccination, or manage an existing appointment, here, or can schedule a vaccination by calling 119. Under-16’s cannot use this service and will be contacted by the NHS to arrange an appointment, however most walk-in centres are now vaccinating this age group.

 Walk-in vaccination clinics are still taking place at locations across Birmingham and Solihull for first doses and those eligible to receive a second dose, with most now offering the vaccine to ages 16+. Walk-in clinic locations, times and age-ranges can be checked here.