Information Coronavirus health advice and Government measures

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The council is monitoring the situation regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19) closely and is liaising regularly with experts at Public Health England, the Department of Health and Social Care, the NHS, Devon County Council and others. We are taking all possible steps to keep East Devon’s residents, visitors, businesses and our staff safe.

The Government has brought in guidance aimed at trying to delay the spread of the virus.

The measures are:

Latest measures: March 23 2020

Stay at home

You should only leave the house for one of four reasons:

• Shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible.
• One form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household.
• Any medical need, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person.
• Travelling to and from work, but only where this absolutely cannot be done from home.

More guidance on the latest measures can be found on GOV.UK. 

Social distancing

The government have updated their guidance on social distancing.

This guidance is for everyone, including children.

Additional measures

• if you live alone and you have symptoms of Coronavirus illness (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started. 
• if you live with others and you or one of them have symptoms of Coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.
• it is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already. Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community.
• If you are self-isolating because you are experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID 19 you do not need to tell 111 that you are staying at home. Advice is available on what it means to self-isolate. 
• Testing will only focus on identifying people with the virus in hospital
• The Government has also set out a number of social distancing measures to reduce the risk of infection from the spread of coronavirus. For those who remain well, are under 70 or do not have an underlying health condition, they are advised to limit their social contact where possible, including using less public transport, working at home and considering not going to pubs, restaurants, theatres and bars.For those who are over 70, have an underlying health condition or are pregnant, they are strongly advised against these activities and to significantly limit face-to-face interaction with friends and family if possible.
• LATEST (20.03.20): The Government has published a list of key workers and associated guidance.

These measures are in addition to the key message from health professionals which is to wash your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds with warm water and soap.

For those who question why soap and warm water is so effective in preventing the virus, Professor Palli Thoradson, based at the University of New South Wales, sets out the reasons why.

For children, you may want to show them this video produced by the NHS showing them how to wash their hands with a catchy song. 

Coronavirus advice in Devon

Devon County Council is providing daily updates on the coronavirus situation - coronavirus advice in Devon - with links to guidance covering the following:

• Latest updates - number of UK cases, latest test figures, number of cases by local authority area.
• Schools and families
• Care homes, vulnerable and older people
• Business and employers
• Communities and voluntary sector organisations
• Public transport and public places
• Warning about scams
• Your wellbeing
• Resources, including posters, which support efforts to stop coronavirus in workplaces or organisations. (Please note, these are designed for printing purposes only, and will not be fully accessible to someone using assistive technology such as a screen reader)

• • Hand-washing technique – poster
  • Government’s public information coronavirus – poster
  • Catch it bin it kill it – poster
• Useful links, ranging from NHS pages to ACAS advice for employers and employees.