To receive an update from the Assistant Chief Executive and Chief Strategy Officer.
Minutes:
It was noted that owing to a conflicting appointment, the Director of Public Health (DPH) would be delayed before he was able to present his update to the board. The Chairman, therefore agreed to alter the order of the agenda and the board firstly considered the update on Communications Activity.
The Assistant Chief Executive and Director of Strategy (ACX) advised communications had continued along the same vein as reported at previous meetings of the board, with activity focussed around three main pillars.
The first was reemphasising the key messages from Government around:
• Staying at home.
• Only undertaking essential journeys.
• Being clear about what those essential journeys are.
The second pillar related to the introduction of Covid stories, that related to Island residents who had been impacted by Covid and who had been prepared to provide us with information and undertake interviews and podcasts for us. These stories would provide a wider community understanding of how people were being impacted and how people were not alone in dealing with the pandemic, it was noted these had been well received.
The third pillar was regarding ensuring information we put out was very factual and very clear about Covid and vaccinations. It was highlighted that the importance of using facts about the virus was very important as this would counter any sense of panic or scaremongering within the community. It had been proven the public wished to receive information, in order to make informed choices and the activities of Island residents had been a good example of how the public responded to a crisis, through helping others over the last year.
It was acknowledged members had discussed previously had been the adherence to the behavioural regulations that were in place, and in fact adherence to those regulations had been good in the main across the Island. This was despite the fact we know people were suffering considerably financially and psychologically.
The Board were aware that reports of violations or non-compliance with the regulations were by default more memorable and newsworthy, which gave the impression there was a high level of such activity. However, in reality compliance across the Island had been generally very good and it was likely the impact on the spread of the infection would be presented in the figures provided by the DPH within their presentation.
Thoughts were now focussed on the future and the need for forward planning and in particular regarding half term. However, messaging had already commenced to reinforce the message that it was not a holiday in the normal sense and the guidelines of stay at home remained in place. It was accepted taking children on walks or to the playground were allowed, but precautions must continue to be applied.
The overall messages around hands – face – space had not changed. We still need to socially distance and we still need to ensure that we are not mixing outside of our bubbles.
The Board were also advised communications regarding the lateral flow device programme was underway, the programme being likely to come on stream early the following week. In summing up, the ACX highlighted thoughts continued to be focussed on the anticipated government announcement on 22 February 2021, concerning the easing out of lockdown and to best respond to that situation moving forward, in conjunction with the Island community.
The Chairman highlighted that during the presentation, Cllr Stewart had joined the meeting, therefore Cllr Hutchinson vacated the chair. Cllr Stewart took the chair for the remainder of the meeting.
Cllr Mosdell advised she would be providing Cabinet later that evening with a more expansive report, but wished to highlight it had already been decided to continue to expand on the work that had already been undertaken over the past few years on improving the mental health of Island residents. Many of the improvements had been through integrated work with partners such as the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and healthcare. Cllr Mosdell stated that there was nobody who hadn’t been affected by Covid and this included those who had experienced difficulty in leaving their homes due to domestic abuse.
Cllr Stewart commented that the pandemic was not over and that we were at an important stage. It was clear the numbers were decreasing however; they had not returned to the low levels previously. It was with that in mind, he reminded everyone, now was not the time to lose focus and take their foot off the pedal.
Cllr Peace stated as had been undertaken previously, contact and support of local businesses would be maintained, and the council would be hosting a number of webinars to advise on how businesses could remain Covid safe.
Cllr Hutchinson provided a personal account of his experiences when attending the West Wight Sports Centre vaccination centre, it being an extremely efficient and effective process with no queues. Following the vaccination, he had received printed guidance regarding the vaccine, which also advised clearly on the required continued social behaviours.
The Chairman adjourned the meeting until 1pm.