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GOOD AFTERNOON and welcome to my regular South West Surrey update No. 107. As of today, we have a total of 3,945,680 positive cases of COVID-19 with 112,465 confirmed deaths in the UK. There have been 5,470 confirmed cases in Waverley and sadly 221 confirmed deaths, with an estimated 572 active cases in Waverley so continuing a steady decline. All data is accurate as of 11am this morning.

COVID-19 LATEST Many of the national statistics remain encouraging: in the last week coronavirus cases ↓27%, hospital admissions ↓21% and deaths ↓18% across England. At the same time, vaccinations are up by 23% including an extraordinary 1,000 jabs a minute dispensed at one point on Saturday. But we have learned to look ahead with caution and yesterday a new study ([link removed]) showed why: it appears that when it comes to the South African variant, the Oxford vaccine doesn’t stop transmission or offer protection against catching it mildly. Word of caution though: it may still offer protection against severe disease and hospitalisation and some scientists are optimistic it will. But South Africa has now suspended the rollout of the Oxford AZ jab (given the SA strain is 90% of their new cases) and scientists are now busy working on a booster vaccine to overcome this problem. They hope it will be ready by the autumn.

WHEN SHOULD LOCKDOWN BE EASED? The biggest risk to our current strategy is the emergence of new variants that are immune or partially immune to the vaccine. How should we address this? Firstly by getting cases right down so fewer mutations arise. And secondly by acting more effectively when they do through 'enhanced contact tracing' as discussed with Dido Harding in last week’s Select Committee ([link removed]) : backwards & forwards contact tracing combined with genomic sequencing of every positive case. This is a big step up from the contact tracing we do and much closer to what happens in South Korea and Japan - but impossible with current high levels of transmission. Because Korea kept new cases down to less than 1,200/day some people think that is the level we need to get to here. I asked Dido what she thought the level was last week and she was unsure - but surely we do need to keep sensible restrictions in place until enhanced contact tracing
can be brought in for all new cases. Here ([link removed]) is a link to my interview with the Guardian and my Twitter thread ([link removed]) explaining this all.

IMMUNISATIONS can be the key to help us get down to those levels and as of yesterday, an impressive 12,014,288 people in total have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the UK. Importantly, everyone over the age of 50 will be offered vaccination by May. More locally, by the end of January 150,000 people had received their first dose in Surrey Heartlands (all of Surrey except Farnham) including 86% of over 80s. In Frimley (covering Farnham) nearly 100k doses have been jabbed covering over 90% of over 80s. In related news, the government has announced a promising new partnership with CureVac to develop new vaccines speedily in response to new COVID-19 mutations if required. I am also delighted that the UK has successfully secured early access to 407m+ total doses of vaccines, more than enough to give additional doses to poorer countries when have vaccinated our own population which has to be the first responsibility of an elected government.

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

VARIANTS & VACCINES Last week I asked the Minister for Vaccine Deployment, Nadhim Zahawi MP, whether the vaccine rollout would be rendered ineffective by new variants ([link removed]) . Nadhim highlighted three main points: 1. 4,000 mutations have been detected globally; 2. The UK is boosting mRNA vaccine technology which is the most promising for rapid adaption to mutations; 3. It will take 30-40 days to adapt vaccines for new mutations (although it may take longer to get them to market). Yesterday he ruled out the introduction of vaccine passports, stating: ‘we don’t know the impact of the vaccines on transmissions and it would be discriminatory.’ I think that may be premature but let’s see.

CLIMATE CHANGE The government has announced £40m to support some of the most polluting industries ([link removed]) in the UK to become ‘greener’. The goal to cut carbon emissions is part of the plan to unleash a green industrial revolution to deliver our Net Zero ambitions. The proposed solutions include substituting gas with hydrogen fuel and making use of heat recovery technology to produce electricity. Because President Biden has now signed up to the Paris Accord and China plans to be net zero by 2060 we are now within a whisker of meeting the original Paris aim of holding growth in temperatures to below a 2-degree increase from 1990 levels - but of course words need to be met with actions.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY

WOKING TESTING According to Surrey County Council there has been an excellent response to the surge testing in Woking designed to isolate any further cases of the South African virus. The operation was completed on Friday, with all 10,000 testing kits having been issued. Further information including a map of the affected area can be found here. ([link removed]) We apparently now have 146 confirmed community cases across the country.

FARNHAM INFRASTRUCTURE PROGAMME I’m working closely with the local councils on proposals for reducing congestion, improving air quality and, tackling climate change in Farnham. If you are interested in transforming travel in our town, click here ([link removed]) to learn more. We would love to hear from you.

LOCAL HEROES Today’s South West Surrey Hero is Mrs Myra Johnson, who has been instrumental in mobilising the Churt COVID-19 Community Support Group. The group now consists of over 60 volunteers and actively supports the vulnerable and the elderly. Extraordinary effort!

See my list of local groups working to support vulnerable residents here ([link removed]) .

THE ECONOMY AND JOBS

SMALL FIRMS will have more time to repay state-backed loans taken out during the pandemic. This will benefit 1.4m companies across the nation, who have borrowed £45bn under the Bounce Back Loan scheme. Click here ([link removed]) to find out more about our plan for jobs.

SWS BOUNCEBACK featured small business: Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care Retail Shops. While their physical shops are closed, their online shop is still in business. Their website ([link removed]) is updated daily and features a wide range of products including clothes, housewares, furniture and more. Worth checking it out.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

JACKIE WEAVER A Parish Council Zoom meeting that descended into chaos went viral on social media last week. Click here ([link removed]) to watch the political thriller, featuring Jackie et al. from Handforth. Surely our South West Surrey villages can compete? Answers on a postcard…

NUT-ELLA OR NOU-TELLA? Recently the team at Nutella conducted a very important survey ([link removed]) about the pronunciation of their chocolate spread. Remarkably, almost 9 in 10 mispronounce the name of the product. The correct answer is NOU-TELLA. Perhaps I should do a survey about the correct pronunciation of my own surname by James Naughtie and others? Or not…

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Promoted by Sean Donovan-Smith on behalf of Jeremy Hunt MP and South West Surrey Conservatives, all at 2 Royal Parade, Tilford Road, Hindhead, Surrey GU26 6TD.

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