Coronavirus Advice and Support

COVID-19 advice

England has moved to Plan B in response to the risks of the Omicron variant.

Wear a face covering in most indoor public places and on public transport
Get tested and self-isolate if required
Work from home, if you can
If you haven’t already, get vaccinated
Let fresh air in if you meet indoors. Meeting outdoors is safer
For more info and updates, visit the support pages on the .Gov website

The vaccine

The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine is safe and effective. It gives you the best protection against coronavirus.

For more information about the vaccine visit NHS.UK

What to expect after your vaccination, includes information in other languages from the NHS

How to get the vaccine: The NHS Essex coronavirus vaccine website gives updated information on how to get a vaccine, and where the latest walk-in clinics are.

A lot of misleading and incorrect information on coronavirus and the COVID-19 vaccines has been published and shared on social media and through some press outlets. Full Fact is a registered charity whose website is run by a team of independent fact checkers and campaigners who find and counter the harm bad information can cause. You can visit the Full Fact website and get verified information on vaccinations and the pandemic by visiting the links below:

Get the facts: vaccines

Get the facts: coronavirus

Protect yourself and others

There are three simple actions we must all do to keep on protecting each other

wash hands - keep washing your hands regularly
cover face - wear a face covering in enclosed spaces
make space - stay at least 2 metres apart - or 1 metre with a face covering or other precautions
Let air in - open windows regularly where possible

If you have coronavirus symptoms:

a high temperature
a new, continuous cough
a loss of, or change to, your sense of smell or taste

Get tested

Testing

Who can get tested and how to order a test

Map of test centres in our borough

Reporting of positive COVID cases within your workforce

If you have a confirmed COVID-19 case within your business, please refer to the Guidance and Action Card for your sector and contact the Health Protection Team on 01702 212497 or email providecommunityaction@southend.gov.uk

Further information about this can be found under the heading "Businesses" further down this page.

Need help?

Contact numbers during this time

Languages

Please see advice on coronavirus in other languages on the Gov website

COVID-19 information is available in different languages and more accessible formats, to ensure no one is forgotten

The NHS in Essex is making sure everyone has access to useful information about COVID-19 and the vaccination programme. A range of materials in different languages including Polish, Romanian and Chinese, along with information in different formats including easy-read leaflets, and video, can be found on the recently launched Essex-wide website. This will help make sure that we reach as many of our diverse communities across Essex as possible.

The information available covers a range of topics including:

general vaccination advice and guidance
easy-read information for people with learning difficulties
resources for people with sensory impairment
information on why you have to wait for a vaccine and what to expect afterwards
advice for older adults and pregnant women
advice for using transport
key information for migrants

You can access translated and easy-read information by visiting the information and support page.

Businesses

If a business has a confirmed case within their workplace, they must notify their local authority immediately.

To do this, please call 01702 212497 or email providecommunityaction@southend.gov.uk with details of your business name, address, contact number and anonymised information about the confirmed case. Please also give details of any close business contacts you believe may need to self-isolate too. Our Environmental Health department will then call you back.

Please note that if you have a confirmed case within your business, close contacts of that confirmed case will also need to self-isolate. It is not sufficient to send a worker for a COVID-19 test and if this returns a negative result, for them to continue working within your business premises. A negative test result is not conclusive evidence of non-infection due to the incubation period for transmission. Therefore, all close contacts will be required to self-isolate for 10 days from potential exposure to the virus.

Grants

Staff who are asked to self-isolate may be entitled to financial assistance, either through their employer or through the government.

If you would like support and further guidance in this situation, you can also phone 01702 215005 and speak to our Regulatory Services Team.

Latest Day Service Provider Information

We are supporting our local day service providers to reopen, with planned opening for all on 5th April 2021. This is in line with local and national health and safety regulations. This will also require the social distancing measures and support bubbles being put in place. Whilst regular LFD and PCR testing is undertaken by staff.

Our providers have strict measures to follow and will be required to provide the council with a risk assessment and details of their expected daily business operations.

However as previously advised late last year, Public Health England has identified that the learning disability community is one of the most vulnerable communities and more likely to be more seriously ill or die from COVID-19 than the general population. Our approach is agreed to help protect the Southend learning disability community using all the past and current knowledge available to Public Health.

It was and remains the decision of our Director of Public Health for Southend that individuals can attend only one day service despite the fact that some of these people in the past might have attended up to 3 or 4 different services/venues across the week. This was decided to support the reduction and risk of COVID infection.

The COVID pandemic has not gone away and whilst I know that many restrictions have eased, it is important that we all remain mindful of the vulnerability of the people who attend these day services.

In addition, a further decision of our Director of Public Health is that people who live in care homes or supported living services should not access day services. The reason for this is that there is no routine testing available for those who attend and staff working in these settings. Unfortunately, COVID has come into several of our day services over the past 8 months and the lessons learnt from that have informed the decisions we have made.

We will continue to keep this under regular review. Should the position change and we can relax our guidance or consider the need to tighten restrictions urgently if there was a spike in reinfection rates, then we will communicate this to you.

If you have any queries or would like to speak to someone about the information then please contact Nicola Mickleburgh or Intergrated Commissoning.

Had a call from test and trace?

If you receive a call from someone claiming to represent the Essex and Southend Contact Tracing Service, you can call either of these numbers to verify that the call is genuine: 0300 303 2698 or 01245 904033.

Domestic Abuse

Are you experiencing domestic abuse and would like some information, advice or support?

If you are in danger, please call 999

If you are afraid of further danger if you are overheard calling 999, you can press 55 afterwards and the operator will transfer the call to the relevant police force as an emergency.

Please visit the Domestic Abuse page on Livewell Southend for more information on support available.