Northamptonshire will be one of the first areas in the country to take on local contact tracing as health chiefs battle Covid-19 outbreaks in the area

Northamptonshire will be one of the first areas in the country to take on local contact tracing as health chiefs battle Covid-19 outbreaks in the area Northamptonshire County Council’s Public Health team are set to be amongst the first areas in the country to take on local contact tracing responsibilities when it launches today (Wednesday).

Luton, Leicester and Blackburn are already successfully carrying out local contact tracing measures and Northamptonshire proactively sought to take on this responsibility in response to a recent increase in cases to ensure as many COVID-19 cases are followed up as possible. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Coronavirus: Repeat tests for Covid-negative Greencore workers BBC Northampton
• Northampton opposition parties say Greencore cases should have been made public sooner by Public Health Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• ‘We’re scared’: Employees react to working in Northampton food factory at centre of outbreak Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Corby warehouse staff sent for Covid test after worker contracts virus Northamptonshire Telegraph
• The student nurse who put her heartbreak aside to work on the Covid-19 frontline at KGH Northamptonshire Telegraph

Children with eating disorders waiting too long for treatment at Northamptonshire Healthcare Trust

Children with eating disorders waiting too long for treatment at Northamptonshire Healthcare Trust More than a dozen children with eating disorders are waiting too long for treatment at Northamptonshire Healthcare Trust despite new targets imposed this year. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Coronavirus and depression in adults, Great Britain: June 2020

Coronavirus and depression in adults, Great Britain: June 2020 Almost one in five adults (19.2%) were likely to be experiencing some form of depression during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in June 2020; this had almost doubled from around 1 in 10 (9.7%) before the pandemic (July 2019 to March 2020). Office for National Statistics

See also:

• Depression doubles during coronavirus pandemic BBC News
• Depression in British adults doubles during pandemic, new data shows The Independent

Government creates new National Institute for Health Protection

Government creates new National Institute for Health Protection The National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP) will start work immediately, with a single command structure to advance the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

From today it will bring together Public Health England (PHE) and NHS Test and Trace, as well as the analytical capability of the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) under a single leadership team. This is the first step towards becoming a single organisation, focused on tackling COVID-19 and protecting the nation’s health. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Speech: The future of public health Department of Health and Social Care
• PHE reorganisation is highly risky and justification for the change has not been fully set out The Health Foundation
• ‘Found guilty without a trial’: The King’s Fund response to the shake up of public health The King's Fund
• Nuffield Trust response to Matt Hancock speech on public health Nuffield Trust
• RSPH reacts to abolition of Public Health England Royal Society for Public Health
• Questions over the future of prevention hang over the launch of the Government’s plans for public health Royal Society for Public Health
• Matt Hancock unveils National Institute for Health Protection The Guardian
• The Guardian view on scrapping Public Health England: not just wrong, but highly risky | Editorial The Guardian
• 'Shifting deckchairs' and scrapping PHE all part of Covid-19 blame game The Guardian
• Matt Hancock defends appointing Dido Harding to lead new health body – video The Guardian
• Matt Hancock takes a gamble in bringing England’s pandemic response ‘under one roof’ The Independent
• Who is Dido Harding, the head of England's new public health body? Sky News

Huge boost to national testing study will offer new COVID-19 insights

Huge boost to national testing study will offer new COVID-19 insights The ONS COVID-19 Infection Survey tracking the virus in the general population will expand from regularly testing 28,000 people per fortnight in England to 150,000 by October, the Health Secretary announced. The survey aims to increase to 400,000 people across the entire project in England. Department of Health and Social Care

UK to ramp up household coronavirus testing

UK to ramp up household coronavirus testing Coronavirus tests are to be carried out on more people to get a better idea of how many are infected at any one time.

The Office for National Statistics' Infection Survey will test 150,000 people a fortnight in England by October, up from 28,000 now.

The survey is separate from the mass testing programme of people with symptoms, as it aims to take a random sample of the general population. BBC News

See also:

• Coronavirus smell loss 'different from cold and flu' BBC News
• Coronavirus: Cases rise at Newark Bakkavor dessert factory BBC News
• Coronavirus: WHO says planet 'nowhere near' herd immunity The Daily Mail
• Coronavirus deaths fall to ANOTHER low: Flu and pneumonia is now killing six times more people The Daily Mail
• Winter resurgence of Covid-19 predicted as experts warn of hard times ahead The Daily Telegraph
• There is now clear data on Covid-19 and children: it should be safe to reopen English schools The Guardian 
• Coronavirus: NHS patient triage hotline stops nurses handling calls over safety fears The Independent
• Coronavirus: Fewest weekly deaths in England and Wales since lockdown began, latest figures show The Independent

Basildon University Hospital maternity unit rated 'inadequate'

Basildon University Hospital maternity unit rated 'inadequate' A maternity unit has been rated inadequate after a "lack of learning" from a mother's death led to the "same failings" in new serious cases.

Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors turned up unannounced at Basildon University Hospital, Essex, after a whistleblower voiced fears.

The watchdog told the department to improve last year, but returned due to concerns about six cases this year. BBC News

A-levels U-turn: Medical schools call for places cap to be lifted

A-levels U-turn: Medical schools call for places cap to be lifted Ministers are coming under pressure to lift the limit on the number of places to study medicine in England, after this week's changes to A-level results.

The number of students studying to be doctors is regulated because of the cost and for NHS workforce planning. BBC News