Covid-19 News Roundup
Parish and Parish Council
Table of Contents
Play Areas
The play equipment at the QE II Playing Field in Compton Street and the Children’s play area and MEGA at the Memorial Playing Field are closed. The Jubilee Pavilion is also closed until further notice.
Compton Lock
Gatherings of young people have been reported at Compton Lock. Please can you ensure that the social distancing rules are followed, for everyone’s safety.
Elections and meetings
The elections to the Parish Council which were due to be held on Thursday 7 May have been postponed to Thursday 6 May 2021.
The Parish Council is due to hold its Annual Meeting (with the election of Chairman and committees) on Tuesday 12 May and the public Annual Parish Meeting on Thursday 14 May.
We don’t yet know whether, and if so in what form these meetings will be able to go ahead.
Surgery and Prescriptions
Twyford Pharmacy is working really hard to process the increased level of scripts. Please note Twyford and Colden Common Surgeries now have a facebook page where updates will be posted:
Twyford and Colden Common Surgeries
From Friday 27 March they hope to be delivering a much higher number of scripts in order to clear this backlog. If you have sufficient drugs until next week, please do not join the queues at the pharmacy but wait for a call to notify you which day your scripts will be delivered. This delivery service will initially be targeted at vulnerable and at-risk patients, such as the over 70s, who are being asked to self isolate at home.
Community Support
Parish Magazine
The April 2020 issue of the Compton & Shawford Parish Magazine was a special edition on Life during Social Distancing, distributed to all households in the parish and funded by the PCC.
It contains contact details for the Village Hub, a list of Wellbeing Resources, links to free resources such as online museums, concerts, education and literature, and a list of things to do at home.
If you didn’t receive your copy, please contact us
Mutual Aid Winchester
Facebook group “to organise community support and help for those isolated”.
Search Facebook for “Mutual Aid Winchester” and search or scroll down (a long way) for the “Southern Villages” section
Transport
We should all be staying at home as much as possible. But for those whose journey is essential, reduced services are operating.
Rail
South Western Railway has been operating a reduced service since 23 March.
For more details see
www.southwesternrailway.com/travelling-with-us/coronavirus-travel-information
Bus
Bluestar announced a further reduction to bus times from Sunday 29 March.
Bluestar No 1 Winchester-Southampton is now running a mostly hourly service in each direction
Stagecoach Bus announced changes to services due to COVID-19 from March 30th:
- E2 Winchester – Eastleigh Runs once a day in each direction
- 63 Altered to Tuesday and Friday.
Hampshire County Council
HCC Briefing 17; 27 March
How to help safely
The Government published new guidance on how to help safely which is aimed at people who are providing essential support to friends, family and neighbours who are in isolation.
Hampshire volunteer handbook
Community First has produced resources to support individual volunteers and voluntary groups to provide help for vulnerable residents safely during the Coronavirus pandemic. Resources include a volunteer handbook, guidance on handling money and risk assessment templates. This local guidance aligns with recent government advice on safe volunteering.
Green spaces
New guidance on access to green spaces has also been published, setting out how people should use outdoor spaces for exercise. The guidance highlights that people should always stay local and only go outside alone or with members of their own household.
Connect to Support
Connect to Support Hampshire which provides general information for all Hampshire residents to help manage their own, or a loved one’s care, support and wellbeing – is now linking residents to useful advice and resources specifically related to Coronavirus and self-isolation. The Connect to Support Hampshire website also provides listings for community groups and services across Hampshire.
Birth registrations
Following national guidance on the Coronavirus outbreak, the County Council are suspending birth registrations until further notice. New parents can register their baby with a GP, without a birth certificate.
HCC Briefing 16; 26 March
Rights of way
Hampshire residents and visitors are reminded in a press release to observe the Government’s social distancing guidelines when in the countryside. People are being urged to use public outdoor spaces and local rights of way sensibly, to respect private land and avoid narrow pathways.
E-book for children
The County Council is sharing a free e-book, written by a Southampton nurse, for parents and carers to read with younger children to help them understand coronavirus and the rules they must follow to stay safe. The e-book will be promoted by the Library Service on social media.
HCC Briefing 14; 24 March
Closure of Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs)
Following the Prime Minister’s address on 23 March it has been agreed with Veolia to close all the HWRCs until further notice. The County Council has posted updates on its website and through social media outlets.
Care homes temporarily stopping visits
The County Council has taken the decision to temporarily stop all but emergency visits to its care homes to ensure that vulnerable individuals are kept safe from the spread of the virus. Staff will support residents to stay in touch with their families and loved ones via phone calls, video calls, instant messaging or letters.
Trading standards
The County Council’s Trading Standards team is warning residents to be extra vigilant to the risk of falling victim to scams and rogue traders and has published a list of known coronavirus related scams.
Registration services
In line with government guidance, weddings have now been suspended for a period of three weeks, at which point the measure will be reviewed. Couples who are due to have their marriage or civil partnership ceremonies within the next 12 weeks will be contacted within seven working days to re-book beyond August 2020.
Hampshire Alert
Scam Alert – Cybercrime exploiting COVID-19
Dated 26 March 2020 with Information about the many online scams being conducted under the banner of “COVID-19”, “Coronavirus”, “Working from Home”, “Self Isolation” and “Financial Support/Hardship”.
Extra care needs to be taken as we are more accepting of visiting unfamiliar websites and receiving emails from unusual sources whilst dealing with current events.