Kirklees organisations come together to tackle COVID-19 infections
Public organisations across Kirklees have come together in an unprecedented show of unity to tackle new COVID-19 infections.
What does this mean for Kirklees?
New data, released late last week, showed a small increase in the rate of infection in Kirklees. Now leaders in local government, health services, emergency services, business, education and the voluntary sector have pledged to work together to save lives and avoid a local lockdown.
Why is this happening?
As lockdown eases nationally, the country has entered a new phase of the pandemic where targeted action is needed to identify clusters of new cases and reduce infections in workplaces and communities.
The Government announced new restrictions for areas in the North of England, including Kirklees, on 30 July. Government announced on Friday 7 August that these restrictions will remain in place and they will review it again on 14 August.
What have partners agreed?
In a joint statement of unity and intent, public, private and voluntary sector leaders set out their determination to share intelligence and resources as well as working together in communities to promote public health messages and action.
Who is involved?
The statement has been agreed by:
- Kirklees Council
- South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- North Kirklees and Greater Huddersfield Clinical Commissioning Groups
- Locala
- Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
- West Yorkshire Police
- Kirklees Active Leisure
- West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
- The University of Huddersfield
- Kirklees College
- Greenhead College
- Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust
Kirklees’ partner statement
“We haven’t beaten the virus yet. COVID-19 still poses a threat to lives and livelihoods across Kirklees.
“We have been working together throughout the crisis but the easing of lockdown poses new challenges. This new phase of the pandemic will require targeted action to identify cases, the causes of those cases and activity on the ground to bring infection rates down.
“We pledge to share our intelligence, our people and our resources to keep Kirklees safe.
“We will share data and intelligence about where and why the virus appears so that we can coordinate our response across organisations.
“Together, we will have conversations in communities to identify barriers to reducing infections. And we will work with local people so they can stay safe in this new environment.
“We will share our resources to promote public health messages that will be critical to bringing the Kirklees infection rate down, using all our networks to share straightforward advice with residents.
“We may be in a new phase of the crisis, but many of the messages stay the same. Everyone in Kirklees needs to follow the advice to keep socially distancing, wash hands regularly and isolate as soon as you have symptoms or are contacted by the NHS test and trace service.”
Please get this matter sorted with ‘feet on the ground, direct messaging and action, etc etc in the ‘hotspot’ communities. It is disgraceful that the entire council area is placed under restrictions when only a few highly localized problems exist. This ‘whack an elephant’ process instead of just a few ‘moles’ is a gross insult to the rest of the council population.