Agenda item

Presentation by Jenni Craig, Service Director Customer & Communities

NHS Borders website for current updates:

http://www.nhsborders.scot.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/coronavirus/

Covid-19 support:

www.scotborders.gov.uk/coronavirus

www.scotborders.gov.uk/affordablewarmth

www.scotborders.gov.uk/covid19business

www.findbusinesssupport.gov.scot

1.0      Covid-19 Update

Jenni Craig, Service Director Customer and Communities gave an SBC update on the current Covid-19 situation.   Mrs Craig explained that Covid-19 had recently accelerated significantly with an increase in positive cases, partly due to the highly transmittable variant of the virus which was present in the Borders.   Mrs Craig emphasised that it was essential that everyone followed the current guidelines to stay at home and minimise face to face contact with those outwith your household.  Referring to Covid-19 testing, Mrs Craig advised that due to the high case numbers, particularly in the Hawick area, a Mobile Testing Unit had been deployed to the Teviotdale Leisure Centre as part of its rotational schedule.  This was in addition to the walk-in testing facility which had opened in Langlee Complex, Galashiels which was for symptomatic testing.  The Council were also involved in discussions with partners about the potential for asymptomatic community testing facilities in the Scottish Borders.  In terms of SBC services, there was currently no direct impact over those already in place from the Level 4 period.   However, the need to continue to deliver essential frontline services and give support to communities might result in staff being deployed to support other areas, for example the care service, which would result in other services having to scale back operations.  Mrs Craig then discussed the Community Assistance Hubs (CAHs) explaining that they remained operational to co-ordinate support within localities and continued to work closely with Customer Advice & Support and Social Work colleagues and a range of partners locally.  Mrs Craig went onto advise that in terms of Education online and remote learning was being provided for all pupils, with in-school arrangements for invited young people and the children of key workers.  Remote learning arrangements - Pupils in P1 to P3 will be provided with home learning packs, which would be accessible online and in hard copy by arrangement with individual schools.  Remote learning arrangements for Pupils in P4-S6 would see the Inspire Learning programme fully utilised to support remote learning for all P4 to S6 pupils.  Any planned Senior Phase Assessments would be postponed and carried out when possible with appropriate preparation time provided.    With regard to Live Borders, their facilities were closed to the public and their focus during the lockdown was on providing support to NHS Borders and SBC’s COVID response efforts through use of available staff and resources.  Live Borders membership had been kept updated and digital services ranging from online fitness classes to online library access continued to be offered and could support home learning.  In terms of support for Business, there was a range of support available for firms experiencing difficulty and included access to funding support administered by the Council on behalf of the Scottish Government, Information on this support was available online at www.scotborders.gov.uk/covid19business and all eligible businesses were encouraged to apply. Where entitlement changes due to changes to the Levels of restrictions in place then this is automatically reviewed, without the need for repeated applications.  Businesses were encouraged to use the national Find Business Support website (www.findbusinesssupport.gov.scot) to check all available funding support, including that being administered by other partners.   The Council continued to work closely with South of Scotland Enterprise (SoSE) to ensure support was made available to businesses.  Mrs Craig concluded her presentation by advising that anyone within the community requiring assistance should contact 0300 100 1800 to access support through the CAHs.   In response to questions, Mrs Craig advised that she would investigate why Jedburgh residents were being sent to Edinburgh for COVID testing and Kelso Residents appeared to be going to Galashiels.  Dean Weatherston, Chairman of Kelso Community Council reported that as at 20 January 2021 Kelso Health Centre had vaccinated 100% of Residents in Care Homes and were working on the 80+ and Housebound and were on target.  Mrs Craig agreed to circulate her presentation following the meeting.  The Chairman thanked Mrs Craig for the informative presentation.