{"id":53866,"date":"2021-10-27T14:43:35","date_gmt":"2021-10-27T13:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/?p=53866"},"modified":"2022-07-01T12:40:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T11:40:48","slug":"wear-a-mask-get-vaccinated-and-keep-your-distance-how-to-do-your-bit-to-help-the-nhs-in-devon-this-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wear-a-mask-get-vaccinated-and-keep-your-distance-how-to-do-your-bit-to-help-the-nhs-in-devon-this-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Wear a mask, get vaccinated and keep your distance\u2019 \u2013 how to reduce Covid-19 and flu this winter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NHS and Devon Public Health are urging people across Devon to help reduce the spread of the COVID-19 and flu viruses by following a few simple steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The number of patients in Devon&#8217;s hospitals with COVID-19 has almost doubled in the first three weeks of October and is expected to continue rising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This adds to the severe pressures that already exist in the local health and care system, leading health and care partners to remind people in Devon they can play a key role in keeping case numbers down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The increasing rates of coronavirus in the community also impact on staffing. Currently 810 NHS staff in Devon are off work due to COVID-19.\u00a0 This accounts for almost 1 in 3 NHS staff absences, up from just over 1 in 5 at the beginning of October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To help, here\u2019s what you can do:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>ensure that you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including having a booster dose if you are eligible<\/li><li>have the seasonal flu vaccination<\/li><li>continue to follow social distancing measures, wear a mask where appropriate and wash your hands frequently<\/li><li>avoid visiting people in hospital if you have sickness or diarrhoea<\/li><li>self-isolate and take a PCR test if you have symptoms of COVID-19<\/li><li>carry out regular lateral flow tests.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<div id=\"block_617955e19652b\" class=\"councillor-quote align-right other has-white-color has-black-background-color grid-x\">\r\n\t<blockquote class=\"councillor-quote-blockquote medium-auto small-12 cell\">\r\n                    <div class=\"councillor-quote-title\"><p>Steve Brown, Devon&#8217;s Director of Public Health, said:<\/p><\/div>\r\n        \t\t<div class=\"councillor-quote-text\"><p>&#8220;The public health advice is clear. It is a totally sensible precaution to continue wearing face coverings when indoors with people you don&#8217;t live with, especially in confined spaces such as on public transport.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Case rates in the county are rising again, especially in the secondary school age population, and that&#8217;s also now reflected in case numbers among their parents age.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We encourage everyone to continue to take sensible precautions to protect themselves, their families and others from the spread of coronavirus.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n        <div class=\"councillor-quote-aside medium-auto small-12 cell\">\r\n\t<figure class=\"councillor-quote-image grid-x\">\r\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"small-6 cell medium-12\" src=\"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/dcc-parent-v4\/images\/avatar-placeholder.png\" alt=\"placeholder image\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\r\n        <figcaption class=\"councillor-quote-description small-6 cell medium-12\" >\r\n            \t                    <\/figure>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \r\n    <\/div>\n\n<div id=\"block_617955949652a\" class=\"councillor-quote align-right grid-x\">\r\n\t<blockquote class=\"councillor-quote-blockquote medium-auto small-12 cell\">\r\n                    <div class=\"councillor-quote-title\"><p>Ian Currie, Medical Director of Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust said:<\/p><\/div>\r\n        \t\t<div class=\"councillor-quote-text\"><p>\u201cWe need you to stand by us this autumn and winter. If our staff are off sick with COVID-19, they won\u2019t be there to treat you or your family when you need us.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;For every coronavirus patient in hospital we need to postpone, on average, another 8 operations. That means more pain and anxiety for people on our waiting lists.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n    \r\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":859,"featured_media":53877,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[106,34],"tags":[293,305,1019,612,780,150],"class_list":["post-53866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-social-care","category-community","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-director-of-public-health","tag-steve-brown","tag-vaccination","tag-winter"],"acf":[],"featured_image":{"ID":53877,"title":"NHS","alt":"","description":"","caption":"","url":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS.jpg","width":804,"height":458,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS-400x270.jpg","thumbnail_width":400,"thumbnail_height":270,"medium":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS-600x342.jpg","medium_width":600,"medium_height":342,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS-768x437.jpg","medium_large_width":768,"medium_large_height":437,"large":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS-800x456.jpg","large_width":800,"large_height":456,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS.jpg","1536x1536_width":804,"1536x1536_height":458,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS.jpg","2048x2048_width":804,"2048x2048_height":458,"thumbnail_featured":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS-770x450.jpg","thumbnail_featured_width":770,"thumbnail_featured_height":450,"thumbnail_sidebar":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS-200x135.jpg","thumbnail_sidebar_width":200,"thumbnail_sidebar_height":135,"banner-block":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS.jpg","banner-block_width":440,"banner-block_height":251,"small-banner":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS.jpg","small-banner_width":640,"small-banner_height":365,"medium-banner":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS.jpg","medium-banner_width":804,"medium-banner_height":458,"small-thumb":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS.jpg","small-thumb_width":640,"small-thumb_height":365,"medium-thumb":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS.jpg","medium-thumb_width":320,"medium-thumb_height":182,"large-thumb":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS.jpg","large-thumb_width":420,"large-thumb_height":239,"slideshow-preview":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS.jpg","slideshow-preview_width":300,"slideshow-preview_height":171,"slideshow":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2021\/10\/NHS.jpg","slideshow_width":800,"slideshow_height":456}},"category_priority":false,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2028-04-30 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