Portsmouth City Council has issued today the following information and request for action. In the last seven days, there were 306 new cases of coronavirus in Portsmouth. This includes cases in hospitals and the community, as well as routine testing of both staff and students at the university, and service personnel at the naval base. We're testing more people than ever before, but this does not take away from the seriousness of more cases in the city. You can spread the virus even if you have no symptoms. The more cases are confirmed, the higher the risk of the virus spreading. In turn this means more people [...]

Updated advice on shielding: 13 October Healthwatch England has updated its information sheet  on shielding to reflect the new Government guidance effective from 13th October 2020. The focus is more on protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable based on the local situation rather than one piece of advice covering everyone. This does mean that it's trying to reflect more complex guidance.   Healthwatch England has highlighted the key areas that people need to know about but kept in links to overall guidance for reference. Changes to Government shielding advice, issued 13 October From 1 August 2020, people who are clinically extremely vulnerable were advised that shielding had been paused. [...]

Portsmouth  is in the (Tier One: medium) alert category for England under COVID restrictions This means that: Meeting friends and family You can meet in a group of up to six people from multiple households. This includes children and applies indoors and outdoors, including private homes. There are exceptions, for example if your household or support bubble is larger than six. Meeting in larger groups (with certain exceptions) is against the law, with fines up to £6,400. Going to work You should work at home if possible. If you have to return to your workplace your employer must make arrangements for you to work safely. Schools and nurseries [...]

    The 2020 theme is ‘Mental health for all.  Greater investment, greater access’.     The global pandemic has resulted in increased need for mental health support as people are struggling with stress, anxiety, health and financial worries and lack of social support in higher numbers than ever before. The World Federation of Mental Health are creating a call to action to make access to mental health support a reality for everyone.     MIND are encouraging everyone to ‘do one thing’ to improve mental health on 10th October. Their suggestions include, accessing information and support, sharing your mental health story, or practicing selfcare. There is a toolkit of images on the linked page     Find out more at: World Federation of Mental Health https://wfmh.global/world-mental-health-day-2020/   Mind https://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/world-mental-health-day/