Coronavirus: The essential daily briefing for Cambridgeshire - March 23
Cambridgeshire County Council has released its third daily briefing with a round-up of any changes to its services.
The briefing for Monday, March 23, takes into account the latest government announcements.
Covid-19 co-ordination hub
Following yesterday’s press conference (Sunday, March 22) by the Prime Minister, Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council, in response to the MHCLG direction, have already launched a Covid-19 coordination hub to provide targeted support for those most at risk during the Coronavirus outbreak.
The hub will have a specific focus on providing access to food, medicines and other supplies in the first instance. As well as co-ordinate the need to make sure there is adequate staff and resource capacity to serve a significant increased level of demand in critical service areas, such as the NHS and social care.
They are waiting for guidance and instruction from government in relation to the coordination of food, medicines and other support to the highly vulnerable list, the details of which will be shared with us this week and will draw in all necessary support from our partners, including the military, to support this vital work.
Changes to bus services in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Changes will be made to the following services provided by Stagecoach:
- Cambridge Park & Ride
- Guided Busway - postponing launch of busway service until further notice and service changes
- Cambridge Service
- 99 Service
- X5 Service
- Bedford Service
- Peterborough Service
- Cambridge City Sightseeing Tour
- Fenstanton Service
For full service changes visit the Stagecoach website here.
Cambridgeshire libraries to close
Efforts are being made to maintain the key functions of the library services across the county, while at the same time minimising the risk of infection.
From next week, the focus will be on increased on digital and online offering, and an appointments-based system for all Cambridgeshire County Council libraries.
Library buildings will close from today (Monday, March 23), but an alternative service is being put in place.
There will be appointments to use IT for those who need it most, a drop-off and collection service for item reservation on an appointment basis with items quarantined for 72 hours between loans, and there will be no fines for overdue materials during the closure period. Loans will also be extended until isolation advice is lifted for everyone.
An online offer will be available to give people access to digital books at home, more information about our online library service can be found here.
Schools and key workers
Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council have moved to clarify the position on school closures and key workers following updated advice from central government.
It states that if it is possible for children to be at home safely, then they should be.
Parents should not rely on, or ask for, childcare to be provided by anyone who should be stringently social distancing, such as grandparents or those with underlying health conditions.
Schools will be asked to provide optional care for those children who are deemed to be vulnerable.
Key workers are those whom the government deem critical to the Covid-19 response, and their children will also be considered if they cannot be cared for at home. This will be the case if one or both parents are classed as key workers, and there is no means by which to keep the child at home, or in single parent families where the parent’s occupation falls within the list.
A list of key workers can be found here.
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