Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Emergency team has response plan for countywide outbreak
While government responses to the coronavirus outbreak are well publicised and broadcast, there is a team in Kent which could yet play a vital role in tackling the issue and helping the county recover afterwards. Kent County Council’s Emergency Planning Team (EPT) does exactly as the name suggests - it produces a plan for various emergency scenarios in the county.
Headed up by David Cloake since 2008, the team prepares for events that, according to its latest effort, “threaten serious damage to human welfare” in Kent.
A plan can be implemented if there is a situation or event that sees any loss of human life, widespread human illness, or disruption of transport facilities or health facilities which additionally affects KCC’S ability to perform it’s day-to-day functions.
It can also be brought in if there is an event that threatens the environment, or in war or after a terrorist attack. One particular situation considered in the latest plan is a ‘pandemic influenza’ outbreak. While Covid-19 is not a strain of influenza, it would seem the current policy in place to address this would be the most easily adapted to the current outbreak.
This section of the emergency plan reads: “The KRF has published a pandemic influenza plan that sets out in detail the response to, and management of, a major outbreak.
“The principles set out in this plan will be applied, with appropriate adjustments, when a health threat arises from a cause other than a communicable disease outbreak.”
It is not clear whether or not the EPT is preparing a specific plan for the outbreak, or when one would be put in motion if it hasn’t already, but a source described the team as “very busy”.
Among many others not listed, the team also comprises Cllr Tony Harwood, who carries out his role as resilience and emergency planning manager, as well as being Liberal Democrat councillor for Maidstone, Fiona Gaffney, who is head of the Kent Resilience Team, and emergency planning manager Steve Terry.
At a time when the public is facing months of disruption, it is likely that any action taken by the EPT will be of great importance in the near future. The Kent EPT had not responded to a request for comment as the Gazette went to press.