Not right to abandon all restrictions
IWANTED to write about Tuesday’s vote on the tiering system. Crucially, the vote was not about which level an area is in - but about whether tiered restrictions should be abandoned altogether.
I think (with a heavy heart) that jettisoning all restrictions at this precise moment would not be in Cheltenham’s best interests.
I hear the anguish, and indeed anger, of those in the hospitality sector. I realise how hard people have worked to make their premises Covid-secure.
I recognise that the heart and soul have gone into building up local businesses - now at risk because of a pandemic that is not their fault.
I recognise too that hospitality doesn’t just provide jobs - it underpins our local community.
But I have to tell you – bluntly – that I regularly sit down with the Chief Executive of Gloucestershire Hospitals Trust and leading clinicians at Cheltenham General and Gloucestershire Royal hospitals, and the data I hear from them is very, very sobering.
I don’t want to be alarmist, but the current situation in Gloucestershire hospitals is serious. GRH and CGH are under enormous strain, significantly greater than during the spring wave.
There are two principal reasons for the current pressure: First, as at Monday evening (November 30) there were 166 Covid-positive patients in GRH and CGH, considerably higher than the spring peak. Second, unlike in the spring, GRH and CGH are trying to continue with elective surgery.
In addition, around 7,500 schoolchildren in the county are self-isolating and over 100 school staff are off-work.
In summary, the combination of no tiers and a Christmas relaxation is, I’m afraid, a recipe for GRH and CGH being overwhelmed in January.
As you know, city and town-wide testing and vaccinations are coming. These promise to make a huge difference in getting the public ‘out and about’ again.
It will also drive down infection rates and – I hope and expect – reduce the need for these restrictions.