GOOD AFTERNOON and welcome to my regular South West Surrey update No. 143. If you’ve been forwarded this email and find it useful sign up to get your personal copy here. You can of course unsubscribe at any time.

PANDEMIC STATS As of today, we had a total of 4,630,040 positive cases of COVID-19 (just under 7% of the population) with 127,976 confirmed deaths in the UK. There have been 5,998 confirmed cases in Waverley and sadly 239 confirmed deaths, with an estimated 93 active cases in Waverley. All data is accurate as of 11am this morning.

VACCINE LATEST 72,531+ people in South West Surrey have now been inoculated with at least one dose and around 53,021 have had the second. Nationally, 81.6% of adults have been vaccinated once for coronavirus, whilst 59.5% have had both doses – brilliant progress, and showing we are on track for 80% of adults and two-thirds of the population to be jabbed by July 19th. All adults are now able to book their jab appointment, with 1 million appointments reserved since the programme opened to everyone. Here’s a graph showing the number of countries using each vaccine. The Oxford vaccine is the most popular with 130 nations using it, followed by Pfizer (84), and Moderna (37). The article also discusses the EU’s lost legal battle with AstraZeneca...no comment. In other news, the latest R range for England is 1.2 to 1.4 and in the last week in the UK: coronavirus cases ⬆️31.1%, hospital admissions ⬆️39.6%, and, deaths ⬆️12.5%.

THE DELTA VARIANT aka the Indian strain is rapidly becoming the globally dominant strain of coronavirus according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Concerningly, Professor Adam Finn, a government scientific advisor has warned that a third wave is ‘definitely underway’ in the UK due to the mutation. Despite this, Boris Johnson seems confident about easing restrictions on July 19. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced this morning that it is ‘unlikely’ that COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted early on 5 July. Of course, today is June 21… the freedom day that never happened.

GERMAN JAB Unfortunately the coronavirus vaccine produced by the German company CureVac has been shown to only have an efficacy of 47% against the disease, meaning it is unlikely to be authorised for emergency use. I recommend this article in Science which explores the failure in more detail - which in Germany’s case should be set against their success with the Pfizer jab. You may recall that back in January (my newsletter no.104) the Pasteur Institute in France announced it is terminating the development of its COVID-19 vaccine following disappointing clinical trials.

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

WESTMINSTER WEEK Last week was busy in the House of Commons with questions to Boris Johnson about the G7 summit and to Matt Hancock about the lifting of lockdown. Video highlights here. Tomorrow the Health and Social Select Committee will hold its last session of our inquiry into children and young people’s mental health. Witnesses will include Minister Nadine Dorries, Tim Kendall who is the National Clinical Director for Mental Health, and Claire Murdoch, NHS England’s National Mental Health Director. The meeting starts at 9.30am.

SOCIAL CARE Without doubt, it's a do or die moment for social care reform. Rather than put our heads in the sand and hope the problem goes away, it is time to grasp the nettle. My full blast on this in today’s Daily Mail here.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY

TRAFFIC & POLLUTION There are big plans at the moment to transform Farnham to deal with the pollution and traffic problems not just in the centre, but in places like Wrecclesham, Hickley’s Corner/the station, and Upper Hale. Check out my video here, featuring Katie Stewart, Head of Highways at Surrey County Council, Councillor Richard Seaborne, and Councillor Kevin Deanus which starts about Bramley traffic issues and then goes on to talk about the importance of public engagement in Farnham. On the Bramley traffic refuge issue thank you to Katie and her team for agreeing to look into it. In addition to various meetings on road safety, I also raced six students at St Polycarp’s (and didn’t come last!) and visited - in delightful summer rain - the first beaver damn in SW Surrey for 400 years as part of a brilliant rewilding project. Twitter post here. A fun but productive day.

CRIMES COMMITTED In April and May, overall crime activity in Waverley was up a worrying 25%, with 211 more incidents. More specifically although ASB ⬇️37.9% and domestic burglary ⬇️8.3%, hate crime ⬆️166.5% and domestic violence ⬆️34.1%. I am going to talk to our Borough Commander Sam Adcock about what constitutes hate crime and will report back. On a national scale a further £25 million is being invested to crack down on burglary and theft through the Safer Streets Fund building on £45 million already committed. This funding will look to deliver innovative and evidence-based crime prevention measures in public spaces, with a focus on ensuring women and girls feel safe.

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

THE ECONOMY AND JOBS

BUILD BACK GREENER Last week the Chancellor officially launched the new UK Infrastructure Bank, which will both help tackle climate change and create new green jobs. An explanation video by Rishi Sunak here. I strongly welcome the establishment of the Bank, which will work across government and the private sector.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

CANCER TREATMENT Preliminary data has shown that a drug called Lisavanbulin could shrink cancerous brain tumors by 90%, leading to the possibility of the first ever targeted brain cancer treatment. Arguably the greatest challenge for neuroscientists is overcoming the Blood-Brain Barrier, which makes successful drug delivery very difficult. Fingers crossed - having worked closely with the wonderful Tessa Jowell as she battled her brain cancer I know how amazing it would be if this worked out.

EXCELLENT EUROS. Football is the most popular sport globally with an estimated 4 billion fans, but since we’ve not had a map in a while, here’s one only displaying nations where football is not the most played and watched sport. I hope you’re enjoying the tournament so far – the England Scotland match was rather a damp squib but congratulations to Wales (me being a quarter Welsh) on reaching the last 16. England faces the Czech Republic tomorrow… Czech out the preview here, including the Telegraph’s predicted score.

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