Local health bosses said there are no COVID mutations of concern in Lincolnshire currently, but they have a plan if new variants enter the county.
The plan is called ‘Operation Eagle’ and would include surge testing and contact tracing to find where the variant first appeared in Lincolnshire.
The Kent mutation is present in the majority of cases in Lincolnshire and is known to be around 70% more transmissible, but not more dangerous.
Variants of concern include the South African mutation which can spread more rapidly and vaccines might not work quite as well against it.
However, there is no evidence it causes more serious illness for the majority of those who come into contact with it either.
Health bosses also said that vaccinations should increase after next week due to current supply issues, and that infection rates will rise in the coming weeks following schools returning.
Professor Derek Ward, Director of Public Health for Lincolnshire County Council said: “We haven’t had any variants of concern, or variants of interest, or not been notified of any. We do have a plan about what we would do if we did.”
“Every area has been asked to draft a version of what they would do using Operation Eagle so we’ve got that, and that’s been discussed with our Lincolnshire Resilience Forum and our local outbreak engagement board with our leaders.”
He added: “If we find a variant of concern in a specific area, we would go in very quickly with a mobilised and quite large part of our workforce to do enhanced testing and contact tracing, so that we can understand where that particular variant has come from.”
Through this, they will try to find the ‘index case’ which is the first person who caught the COVID variant and trace contacts from there.
Lincolnshire County Council’s Director of Public Health Professor Derek Ward. | Photo: Lincolnshire County Council
Vaccination slowdown due to jab shortages
Professor Ward added that vaccine supply shortages should be back on track soon.
He said: “We have had less vaccines over this week, and it’s likely to last for another week or so, and then vaccine supply issues should loosen, so we’ve not been able to use all of our capacity for vaccination because we simply haven’t had enough of the vaccine.”
This comes as the weekly vaccine data released on Thursday showed 237,027 jabs have taken place between December 8 and February 21 in Lincolnshire — up by 34,228 on the previous week. However, that figure was lower week on week (36,828 last week and 38,365 the week before).
Professor Ward expects infection rates to rise over the next weeks when children go back to school on March 8.
He said: “I expect we will see an increase in our rates and as long as that doesn’t translate into an increase in our hospital admissions and, therefore, increase in deaths. Clearly that’s a trade-off from a medical perspective we need to make.”
In Lincolnshire, asymptomatic rapid lateral flow tests have surpassed 21,000 as of Thursday evening with just over 300 positive cases since rapid testing started in the county.
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Thousands of items of personal protection equipment are being stored at councils across Lincolnshire as officers ramp up preparations ahead of the local elections.
It will be a very different situation when residents vote on May 6. The county’s polling stations will have hand sanitiser on arrival, voters will be asked to wear face coverings and socially distance while staff and volunteers will be situated behind plastic screens for protection.
People will be asked to bring their own pens where possible, though some will be available, and a one-in, one-out system will be used.
Council bosses, however, have said there will not be any detrimental impact over the changes.
Graham Watts, elections manager at City of Lincoln Council, said the changes were no different to the kinds of things you’d find in a supermarket currently.
“I’m very confident that it’ll be an efficient visit to the polling station and we can get people through as we would normally relatively quickly,” he said.
The significant investment required for the preparations will be funded, once tallied, by central government grant funding.
The timing for this year’s local elections will include:
Thursday, May 6 – Voting takes place from 7am to 10pm
Thursday night – Votes are verified ahead of the count and transferred to the Assembly Rooms
Friday morning – County council votes will be counted and announced
Friday afternoon – City council votes will be counted and announced
Saturday – Votes for the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner will be counted
Screens have been set up for staff, postal votes will be counted in this room.
Graham reassured residents that votes will be locked in a safe environment until they recounted and will be monitored 24-7 in a bid to ensure they cannot be tampered with.
It’s not just the safety precautions around polling stations either, some locations have changed in order to provide bigger premises, but restrict the use of schools.
“We tend to use quite a few schools in Lincoln and across the county as well,” said Graham.
“[There’s an] issue in terms of trying not to impact education any further than it’s already been impacted this year, so in Lincoln, we’ve had to be quite innovative.”
A list of the items in one box of PPE.
For instance, the Ian Shaman showroom, on Boultham Park, along with other local businesses will play their part in the election this year.
Postal votes are starting to arrive now as well, and so far, Graham said there had been an increase but not in the numbers they had expected yet.
Councils across the country and in Lincolnshire have had to deal with dramatic central budget cuts in the past decade, and the COVID crisis in 2020/21 has compounded that issue. Yet a few notorious challenges remain a priority for Lincolnshire people ahead of the local elections on May 6.
The Lincolnite has spoken to communities across Lincolnshire, from Grantham to Boston, to Market Rasen and Louth. Three standout issues emerged from our discussions, and were at the hearts of people in the county after a year of being in lockdown: potholes, street lighting and fly-tipping.
Road maintenance comes down to funding from central government, street lighting was another way for councils to save money, and fly-tipping is a complex problem as the tips are run by the county council, but the district councils have to deal with the clean up and general rubbish, garden waste and recycling collections.
The Lincolnite spoke to the four main political party leaders in Lincolnshire: Cllr Martin Hill (Conservatives), Cllr Rob Parker (Labour), Cllr Marianne Overton (Lincolnshire Independents) and Cllr Matthew Boles (Liberal Democrats) about their electoral promises. They represent more than 250 candidates in almost 70 wards standing in the Lincolnshire County Council elections. See the full candidate list here.
Martin Hill (Conservatives)
Leader of Lincolnshire County Council Councillor Martin Hill
Current leader of the county council, Conservative Cllr Martin Hill will stand for his ward, Folkingham Rural on May 6. He promised his party will look to “continue the good work” it has done over the past few years if re-elected. This includes keeping council tax low, improving roads, broadband and other infrastructure.
Cllr Martin Hill said: “The council tax we have put up is just under 2%, where we could have gone to 5%, and we will remain the second lowest council tax precept county council in the whole country.”
The council has received over £40 million extra funding from government to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, to support people who need extra help in the care sector and those with lost income. The council also put aside from its reserves a £12 million support package for local businesses facing difficulties recovering the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside another £200,000 for an emergency flood response scheme.
Cllr Hill believes more funding is needed in areas like highways, but savings have been made, such as £2.5 million a year by not having street lights turned on between midnight and 6am. Yet the Conservatives’ main priorities are with road maintenance. The council spends around £50 million a year on highways and a further £35 million on tarmac, with an additional £12 million being put into the highways budget this year.
In a bid to get more funding for Lincolnshire, Martin Hill has been an advocate and continues to strive for devolution for Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, saying he believes it would give more power and money to the region. However, government ministers previously said Lincolnshire’s devolution bid could only come alongside a new mayor role, which was a deal breaker in previous discussions.
Rob Parker (Labour)
Councillor Rob Parker, chairman of the county council’s scrutiny management board. Picture: Calvin Robinson
Labour opposition leader Cllr Rob Parker is standing for his ward, Lincoln Carholme, on May 6. Labour are putting one of the key issues highlighted by people of Lincolnshire at the forefront of their campaign – street lighting.
They have a four point manifesto which includes wanting Lincolnshire to become a green beacon, improving public transport, switching street lights on at night and supporting young people during the pandemic. Labour want to turn street lights back on all night, but replace them with energy efficient LED lighting. If they were in power, they would implement a £7.2 million spending programme over three years to do this.
Labour’s green priority will include championing the use of electric vehicles and having a green approach to delivering services. Through improved public transport, Labour hope to make savings. For example, if fewer people are having to use cars and use an enhanced version of public transport, less work will be required on the roads, they say. This would also include improved bus services and promoting more walking and cycling under the Labour plans.
The final Labour priority is a catch up schooling programme in the summer holidays and weekends for young people affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Labour said “nobody will be left behind” as the county recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, especially young people, if their party are put in power.
Marianne Overton (Lincolnshire Independents)
Marianne Overton, leader of the Lincolnshire Independents. | Photo: Daniel Jaines
Lincolnshire Independents are the third main party standing in local elections this year, with leader Cllr Marianne Overton fighting to keep her seat in Bassingham and Welbourn. The Independents leader said the main concerns her party have are wind turbines spoiling rural landscapes, the centralisation of planning decisions, changes to CCGs and devolution.
Cllr Overton is concerned about planning proposals to allow large onshore wind turbines to be approved, spoiling the rural countryside of Lincolnshire. Historically, the Conservatives have opposed onshore wind farms, but supported offshore ones.
Cllr Overton’s other campaign issues revolve around devolution, where she says one Greater Lincolnshire body would reduce thepower of district councils, such as North Kesteven District Council, which is run by a combined Conservative and Independent partnership called the ‘NK Administration Group’.
The Independents also criticised the government’s plans to scrap the planning system, so decision-making is more centralised. The Lincolnshire Independents want strong local control over their own councils and areas.
The Lincolnshire Independents leader said she was opposed to any plans to “sweep away” clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and replace them with a new body. CCGs deal with the planning and commissioning of health care services for their local area.
The Lincolnshire Independents say they will be “local champions” if elected and have promised to “listen carefully” to what residents think is important.
Matthew Boles (Liberal Democrats)
Cllr Matthew Boles, leader of Lincolnshire’s Liberal Democrats.
Councillor Matthew Boles will be fighting for his county council division, Gainsborough Hill, in next month’s election. He is the only Liberal Democrat with a county council seat, despite the party having a strong local hold of West Lindsey District Council.
He believes the Conservative county administration has failed Lincolnshire in terms of getting fair funding, despite having “had the mechanisms through controlling the county council”.
In his division, Cllr Boles has been campaigning for services to be restored at John Coupland Hospital.
Street lighting is second on the agenda for the Liberal Democrats, with them campaigning to keep them switched on all night. Cllr Boles disputes that there is no link to crime due to streetlights turned off.
The delays and maintenance in fixing potholes is another priority for the Liberal Democrats. They believe it’s important to fix jobs as quickly and efficiently as possible to save money in the long term in order to prevent potholes getting worse and harder to fix.
They Liberal Democrats are also calling on the county council to restore waste recycling centres and keep them open fully due to their unavailability during the coronavirus pandemic. Unlike, Cllr Hill, they believe “if a tip was fully open, this might alleviate some of these issues.”
The hot topics: Potholes, street lights and fly-tipping
After a year in lockdown, we asked people across Lincolnshire what is most important to them for the next council in power to combat.
The Lincolnite reached out to communities online in Lincoln, Sleaford, Spalding, Grantham, Market Rasen, Gainsborough, Louth, Skegness, Mablethrope and Boston.
What we found was that a lot of your priorities were with the issues of potholes, street lights and fly-tipping.
We then asked the four main party leaders their thoughts on these issues and how they would tackle them.
What the people of Lincolnshire said:
Sarah Wilson said: “Pot holes, everywhere! I’m actually scared to drive to Lincoln with the amount of swerving I have to do, it’s so dangerous. Why have the roads been allowed to get in this state? Where is the money going? With road safety in Lincolnshire being such a high priority with all the campaigns and everything because of the high number of deaths it just seems inconceivable to me that something as, in my opinion, basic, as this has become such a huge issue.”
Kerry Drayton said street lighting was a concern: “Couldn’t the council put on every other light on throughout town and then every street would have light! (Don’t get me wrong it would be brilliant if all the lights were on!).”
Sarah Blades said that “fly tipping in the villages surrounding Gainsborough” was an issue.
What the election candidates said:
Potholes
Martin Hill (Conservatives) said: “We’re mending over 100,000 potholes a year on average and it is a job to maintain it. Government should give more money to councils out of the road tax, the fuel tax that they get, and really across the whole country more money should be given to highways maintenance.”
Rob Parker (Labour) said: “Lincolnshire and the Conservatives at the moment spend a significant amount of money on highway maintenance. The question is whether we’re getting value for money out of it. We haven’t got the resources to fix a pothole within a week of it being reported, we need to get that message across to dampen down expectation levels.”
Marianne Overton (Lincolnshire Independents) said: “The consequence of [austerity] is that we have roads that have fallen apart to their very foundation, so now we’re filling potholes on the top. They’re in a really poor state and many of them need significant improvements, which nobody can see how that’s ever going to be funded.”
Matthew Boles (Liberal Democrats) said: “It’s not necessarily about spending more money, it’s about spending your money wisely and being more effective. If you can repair these potholes when they’re smaller, they’re not going to expand into the giant craters we’re seeing.”
Street lighting
Martin Hill (Conservatives) said: “We are going to spend more money on domestic violence and domestic abuse […] tackling and trying to prevent domestic violence is a priority. If there is a local issue and it’s the right thing to do, we will switch lights back on.”
Rob Parker (Labour) said: “We want to ensure that the county council’s streetlights are switched back on throughout the night and convert them to energy efficient LED lighting. We certainly know that would be popular in Lincoln with its universities and particularly for women and also in rural areas.”
Marianne Overton (Lincolnshire Independents) said: “It’s about having a proper, sensitive listening approach to looking at each application from residents carefully. Just a blanket approach of turning them off in so many places is not detailed enough and that’s why you need local Independents who understand the local areas and are prepared to speak up for them.”
Matthew Boles (Liberal Democrats) said: “We all believe that turning off streetlights has had an impact on crime and not just actual crime, but the fear of crime. The police are starting to change that position, so hopefully if they do, we might be able to enact some change. I believe there are many reasons why we should have the lights back on.”
Fly-tipping
Martin Hill (Conservatives) said: “When the pandemic is over, we want to make sure people will be able to go to the tip when they reasonably can and not have to book or queue. People throwing stuff out their car has got absolutely nothing to do with whether the tip is open or not.”
Rob Parker (Labour) said: “We have to be promoting fly-tipping as something that is completely socially unacceptable. We need to keep our household waste recycling centres open as much as we can so there is an opportunity for people to take the rubbish not to the nearest dark part of Lincolnshire and bin it, but to take it easily, quickly and efficiently to a household recycling centre.”
Marianne Overton (Lincolnshire Independents) said: “One thing we can do is to make sure there is easy access to getting rid of rubbish. Secondly, what we already do is actually investigate and prosecute wherever is possible. Thirdly, it’s about education, it’s about making sure that children, people and everybody does not accept it. We need local Independent voices speaking up for our areas.”
Matthew Boles (Liberal Democrats) said: “We are calling on the county council to scrap the click and tip scheme and the conditions in place on the waste recycling centres and open them up fully, as they were pre-COVID. We believe there should be some additional provision or resources put into some sort of education about littering and fly tipping.”
There have been 53 new coronavirus cases and no COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Thursday, down from 63 cases and one death this time last week.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 34 new cases in Lincolnshire, 12 in North Lincolnshire and seven in North East Lincolnshire.
On Thursday, no deaths were registered in North East Lincolnshire, -2 in Lincolnshire and -1 in North Lincolnshire. Fluctuations in data can occur for a variety of reasons including corrected data, misdiagnoses or wrong addresses. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England has reported no new local hospital deaths on Thursday, the fourth day in a row this week.
National cases increased by 2,729 to 4,398,431, while deaths rose by 18 to 127,345.
In local news, the pace of COVID vaccinations in Lincolnshire has ramped up since April 11, with a further 41,242 doses administered until April 18.
Data released on Thursday shows altogether 549,522 jabs have taken place between December 8 and April 18 — a further 41,242 in the last week and a 3.3% increase on the 39,915 jabs given the week before.
Over 300 appointments will be available for coronavirus jabs at a Lincoln pharmacy next week, but they must be booked in advance.
People in Mablethorpe say they are “in limbo” over when they will get their second COVID jabs, despite waiting over the recommended time.
Government guidance says everyone should be offered a second vaccine dose within 12 weeks of the first jab to be fully vaccinated against the virus.
Businesses in Lincolnshire will be able to claim up to £5,000 from City of Lincoln and West Lindsey District councils from next Monday in a bid to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is part of a £500,000 Business Revival Grant Fund given to councils, a scheme that is on top of previous funding such as the Restart Grants.
Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate up to April 22:
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Apr 14 to Apr 21. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
In national news, MPs have accused the government of a “missed opportunity” in failing to give more detailed plans on how Britons might be able to enjoy foreign holidays this summer.
Under Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s roadmap for lifting lockdown restrictions, international travel won’t be allowed any earlier than May 17.
For some learner drivers the wait for a test is over as they resume in parts of the UK – but many have spoken about the difficulties in securing a test date.
Tests have been suspended due to COVID restrictions since January, but restart in England and Wales on Thursday.
Most centres are currently booked up until August, with a backlog of around 420,000 tests because of the pandemic.
Lincolnshire’s COVID cases up to April 22.
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Thursday, April 22
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
59,201 cases (up 53)
41,199 in Lincolnshire (up 34)
9,361 in North Lincolnshire (up 12)
8,641 in North East Lincolnshire (up seven)
2,184 deaths (down three)
1,612 from Lincolnshire (down two)
304 from North Lincolnshire (down one)
268 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)
of which 1,303 hospital deaths (no change)
811 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (no change)
41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
450 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)
4,398,431 UK cases, 127,345 deaths
DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF THE LATEST UPDATE. POSTCODE DATA INCLUDES DEATHS NOT IN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES OR IN HOSPITALS OUTSIDE AUTHORITY BOUNDARIES.
The pace of COVID vaccinations in Lincolnshire has ramped up since April 11, with a further 41,242 doses administered until April 18.
Data released on Thursday shows altogether 549,522 jabs have taken place between December 8 and April 18 — a further 41,242 in the last week and a 3.3% increase on the 39,915 jabs given the week before.
The latest figures show that some 431,320 Lincolnshire residents have received their first vaccine dose and 118,202 have been given their second.
Of those over the age of 45, a total of 359,557 have received their first vaccination and another 101,573 have had their second.
Some 71,763 people aged under 45 received their first dose, with a further 16,629 receiving a second jab so far. This includes those aged between 16 to 64 who are clinically vulnerable and at more risk of serious symptoms of coronavirus.
Office for National Statistics estimates put the total adult Lincolnshire population at 629,926, meaning that around 68.5% have now received their first jab.
This week, around 15% of Lincolnshire’s adult population was fully vaccinated against coronavirus with both doses, health bosses have said.
In North Lincolnshire, a total of 124,522 (30,488 second doses) vaccines have been distributed and 99,435 (19,010 second doses) have received a jab in North East Lincolnshire.
Over 300 appointments will be available for coronavirus jabs at a Lincoln pharmacy next week, but they must be booked in advance.
Dozens of people in the Sikh community received their coronavirus vaccinations at the temple known as Guru Nanak Gurudwara in Scunthorpe on Sunday.
In national COVID vaccination news, Maggie Keenan, who made history when she became the first person in the world to receive an approved COVID-19 jab in December, has praised the hard work of “incredible” NHS staff in delivering the vaccination programme, during a Zoom call with NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens.
The 91-year-old grandmother also encouraged everyone to have their second doses of vaccine, as she was reunited with matron May Parsons, who delivered her first vaccine.
The full list of sites operating as vaccination hubs in Lincolnshire so far:
Hospital Hubs
United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust
Lincoln County Hospital
Boston Pilgrim Hospital
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust
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