Five more Covid-19 victims over a sombre weekend for Northampton's frontline NHS staff

Five more Covid-19 victims over a sombre weekend for Northampton's frontline NHS staff Five more Covid-19 victims were added to the total who have died at Northampton General Hospital over another sombre weekend.

Bosses at the Cliftonville site confirmed the five people who died between Friday (May 1) and yesterday (Sunday May 3) are included in the latest Government figures released today. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Hospitals in the Anglia region report 54 more patients dying with coronavirus ITV News
• Covid-19 death toll approaching 300 at Northamptonshire's two main hospitals Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Company donates 88 pairs of shoes to Northampton hospital's female frontline workers Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• More than 100 bottles of hand cream donated to staff at Northampton General Hospital Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• More residents test Covid-19 positive at Kettering care home Northamptonshire Telegraph
• KGH coronavirus death toll rises to 118 Northamptonshire Telegraph
• Kettering key worker’s false-negative Covid-19 test raises concerns Northamptonshire Telegraph

Checking the system’s blind spots

Checking the system’s blind spots It is well recognised that health and care services delivered in the community do not enjoy the same profile and attention as hospital services. Despite longstanding ambitions to rebalance the health care system to deliver more care closer to home, this rhetoric hasn’t translated into reality. There are many reasons for this, including a lack of robust data on activity and outcomes, the absence of prominent national targets, and the fact that care delivered in people’s homes and communities isn’t visible in the same way as the activity taking place in accident and emergency (A&E) departments or on hospital wards. The King's Fund

Guidance: Coronavirus (COVID-19): verification of death in times of emergency

Guidance: Coronavirus (COVID-19): verification of death in times of emergency Clarifying existing practice for verifying deaths outside of hospitals and providing a framework for safe verification of death during the coronavirus emergency. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Detailed guide: Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and risk in the UK Department of Health and Social Care
• Guidance: Technical Specifications for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Department of Health and Social Care
• Health Secretary welcomes reopening of fertility services Department of Health and Social Care
• Revealed: the NHS’ plan to protect BAME staff from covid-19 Health Service Journal
• Clinical characteristics and predictors of outcomes of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 in a London NHS trust: a retrospective cohort study Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team
• ‘Video-Call The Midwife’: NHS Carries On Delivering As Wilfred Joins Over 150,000 Babies Born During Pandemic NHS England
• Guidance: COVID-19: guidance on shielding and protecting people defined on medical grounds as extremely vulnerable Public Health England

Coronavirus mutations: Scientists puzzle over impact

Coronavirus mutations: Scientists puzzle over impact Researchers in the US and UK have identified hundreds of mutations to the virus which causes the disease Covid-19.

But none has yet established what this will mean for virus spread in the population and for how effective a vaccine might be.

Viruses mutate - it's what they do.

The question is: which of these mutations actually do anything to change the severity or infectiousness of the disease? BBC News

See also:

• Spike mutation pipeline reveals the emergence of a more transmissible form of SARS-CoV-2 bioRxiv (open access)
• Coronavirus: Prof Neil Ferguson quits government role after 'undermining' lockdown BBC News
• Coronavirus: Boris Johnson aims for 200,000 tests by end of May BBC News
• Coronavirus: Can you compare the UK with Italy? BBC News
• Coronavirus: Mass testing earlier 'would have been beneficial' BBC News
• Coronavirus: Doctor MP says 'government's lack of testing has cost lives’ BBC News
• Minister James Brokenshire admits testing and tracking should NOT have stopped on March 12 The Daily Mail
• Coronavirus UK: 12 different strains in March, one unique The Daily Mail
• Britain's coronavirus death toll may be 34% higher The Daily Mail
• How does the NHS contact tracing app work? An easy eight-step visual guide The Daily Telegraph
• Deputy chief scientist: We need to get to grips with coronavirus care home deaths The Guardian
• Number of key workers getting Covid-19 overtakes positive tests in hospitals The Guardian
• UK coronavirus death toll rises above 32,000 to highest in Europe The Guardian
• Coronavirus: NHS frontline messages 'difficult for Hancock to hear', says Labour MP and A&E doctor Sky News

Child mental health was in crisis before Covid-19. We can't go back to 'normal'

Child mental health was in crisis before Covid-19. We can't go back to 'normal' Vulnerable children will be even more at risk when the lockdown is lifted

Coronavirus doesn’t affect everybody equally – it affects those on the frontline disproportionately. A similar myth has spread about mental health: while anybody can experience mental health problems, they disproportionately affect children who have suffered adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as abuse, parental mental health problems, drug use, incarceration or domestic violence. These ACEs are compounded by poverty, poor education and hopelessness for the future. The Guardian