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DS Risk Warning: Health

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Hello all,

A pandemic remains as one of the top national risk register threats to the country. The coronavirus reinforces why. What does your risk register say about it and its mitigation? Does it need review in the circumstances?

The new coronavirus is thought to have emerged from illegally traded wildlife at a seafood market in Wuhan and can now spread between people.

Chinese authorities over the weekend said the virus was - like a normal flu - able to spread during its incubation period and before any symptoms appeared.

This would set it apart from cases like Sars and Ebola and make it much harder to contain.

The incubation period can range from two to 10 days, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Yesterday Hancock, the Health and Social Care Secretary said anyone who has returned to Britain from Wuhan in China in the last fortnight should self-isolate and stay indoors. As of 1400 GMT on Monday, Britain had tested 73 people for the Wuhan coronavirus but has not had any confirmed cases of the disease that has killed an increasing number of people in China.

"We are ... asking anyone in the UK who has returned from Wuhan in the last 14 days to self-isolate, to stay indoors and avoid contact with other people," Hancock said, advising those people to contact the National Health Service via phone.

"Public Health England officials are continuing to trace people who have arrived in the UK from Wuhan. Having eliminated those who we know have since left the country, there are 1,460 people we're seeking to locate."

​There doesn't appear to be any advise at present in terms of the HR implications, or indeed relations with pupils and their parent/carers.

Have you done your own local research to find out what the situation is now in your 'community' from travel already carried out? ​Is there an intention to travel at the end of term break to high risk areas? Does this need review/will this be forced? Might there even be an impact on offsite visits? 

More details will emerge as our now joined up world will continue to report cases and their success, or otherwise, of isolating and supporting the patients and tracing those they have associated with.

We will share critical updates with you as they emerge. But while we are at it we saw an item headed with this question and thought it useful for all sorts of potential lurgy you have to deal with, especially our education customers in your 'super incubator' locations, as the health people call you.

​​Can wearing masks stop the spread of viruses?

Virologists are sceptical about their effectiveness against airborne viruses.

But there is some evidence to suggest the masks can help prevent hand-to-mouth transmissions.

Dr David Carrington, of St George's, University of London, told BBC News "routine surgical masks for the public are not an effective protection against viruses or bacteria carried in the air", which was how "most viruses" were transmitted, because they were too loose, had no air filter and left the eyes exposed.

But they could help lower the risk of contracting a virus through the "splash" from a sneeze or a cough and provide some protection against hand-to-mouth transmissions.

A 2016 study from New South Wales suggested people touched their faces about 23 times an hour.

Dr Connor Bamford, of the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, at Queen's University Belfast, said "implementing simple hygiene measures" was vastly more effective.

"Covering your mouth while sneezing, washing your hands, and not putting your hands to your mouth before washing them, could help limit the risk of catching any respiratory virus," he said.

The NHS says the best way to avoid catching viruses such as flu is to:

​*​regularly wash your hands with warm water and soap

​* ​avoid touching your eyes and nose wherever possible
​* ​maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle​.​

​All the best.

Bill​

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