Arun cancels council meeting due to coronavirus outbreak

According to a tweet: “We are monitoring developments related to coronavirus very closely in line with guidance from Government.

“We have taken the decision to cancel the Full Council meeting on 18 March 2020.

“This is a decision we have not taken lightly but believe it is the responsible course of action given the information provided. The next scheduled meeting of the Full Council is 20 May 2020.

The looming decision was mentioned by Arun leader James Walsh yesterday.

Dr Walsh was speaking at a meeting of West Sussex County Council’s health and adult care scrutiny committee, where he asked if other councils were considering doing the same.

He said: “I think this council, along with other public bodies, will have to take heed of the fast-moving situation and may have to consider cancelling meetings or having virtual meetings via the internet, Skype etc.

“Arun District Council, where I lead, are probably going to take that decision to cancel meetings toward the end of this week.

“I think we have a particular problem in this part of the country with our high elderly population and we’ve got to try and contain it before it actually spreads.”

Worthing was one of the first places in the UK to see a case of the virus – Covid-19 – and there was praise for the way the county’s public health team had reacted.

Committee chairman Bryan Turner thanked director of public health Anna Raleigh and her team ‘for the sterling work that they’ve done’.

He added: “Worthing was one of the first places to have a case of Covid-19 in the UK but the containment and contact raising and all of the work they’ve done has actually gone really well and there hasn’t been a panic.

“They’ve worked really hard to protect the population of West Sussex.”

There were questions from the committee about the number of intensive care beds in West Sussex and the specific advice being given to communities.

Chris Clark, representing the county’s clinical commissioning groups, said: “NHS England are working directly with Public Health England to plan to ensure there is sufficient acute bed capacity to cope with potential anticipated increase in hospital admissions.

“The overall approach is for hospital sites to be identified with dedicated ward areas protected for people being admitted who are positive for Covid-19.

“Our local health and care system is working up plans with Western Hospitals, Princess Royal Hospital and collaborating with Surrey for people who live around Crawley and Horsham, to ensure that we can support our hospitals with preparing for that.”

Responding to a question from Dr Walsh, Mr Clark said he didn’t know if the use of private hospitals was being explored, adding: “The prime task is to ensure our NHS hospitals have the capacity ready.”

Ms Raleigh told members that, when it came to public events, her team was ‘following the government and Public Heath England’s advice that it’s business as usual’.

She added: “At the point that that advice changes, we will then be reviewing our stance on public meetings. But the advice now from the government and from Public Health England is business as usual.”