This might be as bad as it gets.

But there again it could get worse and whether or not it does it’s down to us.

The numbers are something else. In the 7 days to 4 Dec 20 Histon & Impington recorded 6 new infections. In the 7 days to 4 Jan 21 it recorded 80.

We all have our fingers crossed that the vaccine roll out goes well and protects us but that will take time. In the meantime we’ve got to do what we can to reduce our infection rate. This means following the rules and maybe going a little further. We should think what our currently normal day-to-day activities are and ask which may now take place in a more Covid compliant way.

Chris Whitty said today …  ‘it is really important that everybody, in every interaction that they have, every day for the next few weeks, thinks: do I really need to do this?’

On the other hand we should absolutely not second guess the rules. We are an opinionated community which by its nature asks questions and challenges authority. Now is not the time for that. Follow the rules. Remember: hands, face and space. No compromise. If we don’t more people will become infected, more people will go to hospital and more people will die.

There is good news. Our shops are open as normal (where allowed to so do). We thank them and their employees for that. Let’s go further and make it easy for them to operate safely by strictly following the rules and normalising good Covid compliant behaviour.

The community has done well to support itself and the network of street coordinators can provide help and support where needed. If you don’t know who your street coordinator is please call the HELP line on 01223 320420.

If you need specific help please call one of the other numbers below:

Prescriptions:               01223 651518 to collect a prescription for you

Food parcels:               01223 233492 if you and/or your family need help to buy food

Mental well-being:      07922 083991 if you or someone you know needs support

Transport:                    07982 108927 to take you to get your vaccination

HELP                            01223 320420 for any other Covid related matters

Please remember: if there’s an emergency dial 999 straight away.

As a community we can remember the relative good times of last summer when we had lots of opportunities. Our problem now is a combination of cold weather and the new strain but there’s no reason why we should not enjoy this summer as well. But we do need to be strict with the way that we follow the rules in the meantime.

COVID: it’s still bad.

Infection rates remain high and this means more people going to hospitals which are already too busy.

The vaccine situation is good news but doesn’t help today and is unlikely to have any significant impact until the spring.

It’s important therefore for us to strictly observe the rules for tier4/lockdown. These include:

• we should stay at home (except for food shopping, exercise or medical reasons); and
• households should not mix, neither indoors nor outside

And remember in addition and always: hands, face and space. Wash your hands, wear a face covering and observe 2m social distancing.

This is tough and it makes for a pretty low key New Year’s Eve. But it’s better to observe the rules now and then to enjoy the summer than to do otherwise.

Our community has shown great strength and resilience during 2020. It will surely see us through the remaining months of this pandemic and then we can enjoy again the coffee shops, pubs and restaurants that served us so well during the relaxation of the summer.

Despite the bad news the prospect of us returning to a degree of normality before the end of springtime is good so let’s, quietly, toast the new year this evening and wish each other a healthy 2021

It’s scary how quickly the Covid situation can change. As we came out of lockdown 2 we were disappointed that we did not remain in tier 1. According to the way things are going now we’re very fortunate not to find ourselves in tier 3.

We are almost surrounded by tier 3 territories, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Peterborough, and although outbreaks in Cambridge have faded the rates across Cambridgeshire, and elsewhere in the Eastern Region, are all climbing. In Histon & Impington we had 17 (that’s up from a recent low of 5) new infections in the 7 days to 12 Dec 20 putting us at the same as the average across the UK.

It’s likely that the situation now is worse than it was during lockdown 1. Fortunately the support mechanisms which we put into place then and our experience and natural resilience are helping us to meet today’s challenge. In contrast to last March it’s likely that many of us are now aware of people with Covid but thankfully the testing regime is in place and it is straightforward for track and trace to take place.

On the good news front the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine is being rolled out and, as with infections, most of us now know of someone who’s had one so that’s great progress. The AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to be approved in the UK ‘within the first weeks of January’ and the Moderna vaccine is likely to be granted an emergency use authorization in the US within the next days.

If you think you are due a vaccine please sit tight. You will be contacted. Please do not ring Firs House or Addenbrookes. They are very busy and don’t need unnecessary phone calls.

Locally our community feels strong. The shops in the High Street are open and the shelves in the food stores are well-stocked, people are enjoying alfresco coffees with friends at the St Andrew’s Centre, the Geographer and D:licious, and our pubs are doing their best to serve ‘substantial’ meals to those who want a drink. People are social distancing and wearing masks. That’s good.

Please remember ‘hands, face and space’. And do a little more if you think that’s right.

There’s also a program of events leading up to Xmas with both Choir 2000 and the Salvation Army out singing carols this Saturday.

The HICovid19 response team continues to meet weekly, the network of street coordinators is alert and is responding when extra support is needed. Well done and thank you to all of you who continue to provide support to family, friends and neighbours.

If anyone does need any help for any reason they should contact their street co-ordinator or call the HICOVID19 helpline on 01223 320420.

Click here for a pdf of this digest.

If there’s one thing we should have learnt by now it’s that this pandemic won’t be over until it’s over and no matter how we look at the stats and how positive the news about vaccines is there’s still a way to go.

Nationally the numbers look better but not dramatically so, locally Cambridge City appears to have got its numbers down and South Cambs remains down but Histon & Impington is again exemplifying the statistical problem of a small sample over a limited period of time. The cumulative number of infections over 7 days hit a peak of 25 and has been as low as 5 but is now back up at 14..

When the recent tiers were set there was talk of a mid-December review. That idea seems to have gone walkabout so it looks like we’ll be stuck in tier 2 until 2021 despite the improvement in Cambridge.

Our community appears to be managing fine. Our pubs and restaurants are offering indoor and outdoor eating opportunities where this is possible although on cold days with no sunshine alfresco dining seems a bit of a stretch. A big thank you to those who have braved the cold.

It’s the hidden impact of Covid though that’s the concern. Most of us are getting a little fed-up, maybe even depressed, but we need to recognise that that’s not the same as depression. That’s a clinical condition and needs expert help, the former we can all help with either by simply getting out and chatting with people or making the effort to talk to those who seem a little glum. So please, everyone, talk to your neighbour!

There’s lots happening in the run-up to Xmas but the appearance of the miniatures atop our letter boxes etc is a delightful surprise. Soon after they went up we had the all day rain on Thursday but they came through and are still there to delight us. Thank you to those responsible.

The HICovid19 response team continues to meet weekly and the network of street coordinators is alert. However there seems to be little demand for any special support which is a good indicator of how resilient our community is. Well done and thank you to all of you who continue to provide support to family, friends and neighbours.

If anyone does need any help for any reason they should contact their street co-ordinator or call the HICOVID19 helpline on 01223 320420.

Click here for a pdf of this digest.

Exceptionally the Parish Council posted a statement on its web-site on Monday which began:

‘Residents of Histon & Impington (including King’s Meadow) and Orchard Park may be aware that the rate of infection in our community (as reported on https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/) has risen in recent days. In South Cambs it has almost doubled and our rate locally is double that in South Cambs. However both rates are still below the national average.’

Little has changed in the few days since then. The rate in Histon & Impington and Orchard Park has not risen further, in fact it’s registered a modest decline, but it is in the nature of these statistics that little can be learned over short periods of time and we are still at double the level of South Cambs as a whole So all we can say is that there’s no reason to worry unduly but there’s no reason for complacency either. A look over the border at rates in wards with lots of students is enough to remind us of that.

IVC has chosen to close its 6^th form (aka Impington International College) again following a rise in the number of students self-isolating and studying from home along with increased staff absences. This is a sensible decision and was supported by Public Health England and the local authority.

Our community appears to be taking this second lockdown seriously with people generally showing excellent compliance with social distancing rules when out and about and with face coverings being worn in shops and, increasingly, in the street. Such behaviour makes us all confident that, provided that we do likewise, we will get through this period successfully.

The HI Covid19 response team is continuing to meet and the street coordinator network is 100% active. Feedback from this and from the helpline (01223 320420) is that people are coping just nicely thank you very much. Fingers crossed that it stays that way.

Thank you again to those shops that are open and especially to the people who are working in them. Knowing that it is easy and straightforward to shop for essentials locally goes a long way to making this lockdown bearable.

If anyone does need any help for any reason they should contact their street co-ordinator or call the HICOVID19 helpline on 01223 320420.

Click here for a pdf of this digest.

Residents of Histon & Impington (including King’s Meadow) and Orchard Park may be aware that the rate of infection in our community (as reported on https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/) has risen in recent days. In South Cambs it has almost doubled and our rate locally is double that in South Cambs. However both rates are still below the national average.

It is possible that some of this rise is linked with the recently reported cases at Histon & Impington Infants School and Impington Village College’s 6th form. Both situations have been and are being very carefully and competently managed in full compliance with government guidelines. The former is already one week old and no further related infections have been reported. The latter has been reported this morning and involves about 10 pupils. Two study groups are now self-isolating. Note that a previous outbreak at IVC’s 6th form which led to it being closed for 2 weeks was successfully managed.

Sadly this is no surprise. The government told us that there would be infections resulting from the re-opening of schools and universities and that’s one of the reasons why we are now in Lockdown 2, to reduce infections from other sources.

In our communities conformance with lockdown rules has been good but these recent statistics just remind us that it’s not over yet. This Covid battle has still to be won so we must continue to exercise caution in the way in which we conduct our lives.

We are fortunate that the food and other essential shops in our high streets are supporting us by remaining open. We thank them for that and encourage everyone to use them and to observe the rules when they do.

So: stay at home if possible, socially distance and wear a mask when going out, wash hands, and get tested if symptoms occur. And get the NHS app. It works (as Boris Johnson can testify)!

Our Covid response teams are active again and if anyone has any reason to ask for help or information they should call 01223 320420 (Histon & Impington) or use the contact form on http://orchardpark.gov.uk/ (Orchard Park).

We’re one week into Lockdown 2, the High Street is functioning well, people appear to be behaving, but there is an upward trend. We need to be wary.

We’re all epidemiologists and statisticians now so we can follow what’s happening in terms of both national and local infections. The former seem to be plateauing so that’s good news but the latter bounce around and that’s the nature of short term trends and small populations. It’s good to see the rate of infection coming down in Cambridge but today’s spike in Histon & Impington is of modest concern. However we know that the infections being reported are being professionally managed and self-isolation is mostly being practiced.

Life is much easier now than it was in the early days of Lockdown 1 because our essential retail stores have continued to operate as normal. They are doing a great job for us and face covering and social distancing guidelines are being observed. Now is probably the time to use these more and to reduce our dependency on the larger outlets elsewhere.

Many businesses are adjusting with take-away and click and collect offerings. Let’s please support this enterprise because it may be the difference between survival and closure for some of them. When you’re out for a walk on your daily exercise you can get excellent take-away coffee at both the Geographer and D:licious. And remember you can continue to get great take-away food at the Histon Fryer, the Indian Ocean and at Number 35 (by the Rose & Crown).

Loneliness is one of the biggest adverse consequences of lockdown. It’s often having nobody to chat to that’s the biggest contributor so the Parish Council is nominating a number of ‘happy to chat’ safety benches. They’re on the Green and the Rec and by the Peace Memorial. And if you’re a member of a community club or society please telephone other members. It might make a big difference.

The newspapers this week are full of news about the vaccine .Firs House is ready and willing but is waiting for the official government announcement about what to do. Check firshouse.com for the latest information.

If anyone does need any help for any reason they should contact their street co-ordinator or call the HICOVID19 helpline on 01223 320420.

Click here for a pdf of this digest.

Well that was hardly a surprise. As our government says: it follows the science. It just takes a week or so to do so.

We’re in Lockdown 2 but for us it should be very different from Lockdown 1. This time it looks like our food shops will continue to operate normally with few of the difficulties of March. Although our pubs, restaurants and cafes must sadly close take-aways will continue.

Perhaps the big difference is that we know where we are in terms of infection. The current run rate (cumulative new infections/100,000 over the last 7 days expressed per 100,000 inhabitants) in Histon & Impington is well below 100. This means that as long as we all observe the rules, which we have generally done so well through the summer, we can continue to lead ‘normal’, although perhaps rather boring, lives. It is only 4 weeks after all and as long as the rate stays low we might be optimistic about December.

If anyone wants to see what’s happening to infection rates locally and nationally go to the map on the daily update web-site at https://coronavirus-staging.data.gov.uk/ and drill down.

The HICovid19 response team is now meeting weekly (on Thursday mornings) and has activated the street coordinator network and the Helpline support. 

If anyone does need any help for any reason they should contact their street co-ordinator or call the HICOVID19 helpline on 01223 320420.

Click here for a pdf of this digest.