GOOD AFTERNOON and welcome to my regular South West Surrey update No. 101. As of today, we have a total of 3,395,959 positive cases of COVID-19 with 89,261 confirmed deaths in the UK. There have been 4,759 confirmed cases in Waverley and sadly 145 confirmed deaths, with an estimated 913 active cases in Waverley - a significant decrease on last week’s estimates. All data is accurate as of 11am this morning.

TRAVEL BAN As of 4am this morning all travel corridors are officially suspended to stop the spread of new variants of coronavirus into the UK. Earlier in the week arrivals from South America and Portugal were banned following evidence of a new variant in Brazil. The government listened to my calls and those of many others about the need to act fast on this one, not least as we are all worried the Brazilian variant may not work with current vaccines. The measures will be reviewed next month on Monday 15 February.

THE BAD NEWS…EVERY 30 SECONDS a patient is admitted to hospital with the coronavirus according to the NHS England Chief Executive Sir Simon Stevens. Concerningly, one in four patients being hospitalised for COVID are below the age of 55 (speaks a 54 year old). The encouraging news is that the growth in COVID hospital patients appears to be slowing in every region across the country. Consequently, the total is likely to peak in the next week. Nevertheless, the situation is still very serious and hospitals remain under a lot of pressure, with one in 10 nurses currently off due to the disease.

THE BETTER NEWS…140 JABS/PER MINUTE are being pumped into the nation’s arms, indeed we are vaccinating at four times the rate people are getting infected. Impressively, 45% of people aged 80 and above have been vaccinated. As of yesterday, 3,857,266 people in total have received their first dose of the COVID vaccine. This success will surely become as big a part of the story of our national response as some of the earlier failures.

IMMUNE-ISH A recent study conducted by Public Health England has confirmed that people who have already had coronavirus are unlikely to be reinfected in the near future as they have developed antibodies. The naturally acquired immunity appears to last for at least five months, although we don’t know for how long exactly. BUT if you’ve already had the disease, you can still transmit the virus so I urge you to stay at home and follow the government guidelines to protect the NHS and save lives. To read more about the study, click here.

YES BioNTech! Just last month the UK became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. Last week, BioNTech reported a breakthrough in treating multiple sclerosis (not caused by a virus) with another mRNA vaccine. The new vaccine seems to stop disease progression and improve symptoms. Does the Medicine and Physiology Nobel Prize beckon when even non-scientists are beginning to twig the importance of the new Messenger RNA technique? Click here for a nice summary of the study.

The key number to remember for anyone with pandemic-related difficulties remains 0300 200 1008 the Surrey Helpline run by Surrey County Council (Mon-Fri 9 am to 5 pm).

WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER?

SOCIAL CARE Yesterday the government announced an additional £120m for the social care workforce. This is on top of the £149 million announced back in December to support testing. This is good news but to really thank them though we need to see a ten-year workforce plan for the sector as we have for the NHS – something the PM made positive noises about when I asked him about it last week.

G7 SUMMIT Boris launched the UK's G7 Presidency and revealed that this year’s summit will take place in the seaside resort of Carbis Bay in Cornwall. If we are not going to delight world leaders with the beauties of Surrey I guess Poldark countryside will have to do.

HUNT JUNIOR vs. BLAIR Last week my 10 year old son John, stole the show at an event on the future of Western Democracies organised by Chatham House to ask Tony Blair a question about climate change. Is the world going to end? Click here to find Blair’s encouraging response.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY?

SURREY CCG Last week I spoke to Dr Claire Fuller who runs the Surrey Heartlands CCG, effectively the boss of the NHS for Surrey. Worth reading the summary of our conversation on my facebook page but she has a particular worry that cancer deaths may spike because people have not been keeping up to date with screening, especially for cancer. If you get invited to be screened for bowel cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer or aneurisms…please accept!  I will be doing more to encourage this throughout the year. I also talked to her about the issues around St Christopher's in Haslemere as a vaccination centre which she hopes will be resolved imminently by the arrival of AZ vaccines stocks which don’t need ultra-cold storage.

FARNHAM TESTING Lots of happy customers for the ‘Walk in Centre’ for vaccinations in Farnham on Mike Hawthorne Road. It appears to be running efficiently as one emailer told me: ‘there were a number of people to lead us through the process efficiently and with humour, understanding and courtesy. It was an impressive system.’ Brilliant.

LOCAL HEROES Congratulations to Sarah Hawen, the Head of Law at Godalming College, for being one of the South West Surrey Heroes Award winners. Thank you for your extraordinary work during the pandemic. I would also like to thank the IT department and the senior management team (Emma, Olly and Carol) at the College who have permitted teachers to support and engage students with remote learning. How often have we thanked IT departments in the pandemic so far? Great work and very much appreciated.

See my list of local groups working to support vulnerable residents here.

THE ECONOMY AND JOBS

INSURANCE CLAIMS The Supreme Court has backed small firms over business interruption insurance claims. The insurers have been instructed to pay small firms with relevant business interruption cover for COVID-19 lockdown losses. This is very welcome news and will help many small businesses across the country, including thousands of bars, restaurants and hairdressers that shut to protect the NHS during the pandemic.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

SOMETHING FISHY Long COVID sufferers are reporting bizarre olfactory hallucinations, including a strong smell of fish. You can read more about the unusual side-effects here.

SPEAKING OF FOOD, in case you are on a look out for new lockdown snacks, check out BuzzFeed’s suggestions. Deliciously weird highlights include carrots dipped in melted chocolate sauce and a peanut butter/lettuce/mayo sandwich. Lettuce know what you think…

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