WEEKLY UPDATE 23 OCTOBER 2020 – 每周疫情快讯 2020年10月23日 – Chinese Community Centre

Jobs & Business Support

I: Job Support Scheme

The new Job Support Scheme which replaces the Furlough Scheme on 1.11.2020 has been adjusted to give more help to businesses that employ staff.

IA: Job Support Scheme Open – for businesses operating at reduced capacity

IB: Job Support Scheme Closed – for businesses required to close

IC: Job Retention Bonus continues

One-off bonus £1k for each employee retained under the Job Support Scheme.

II: Self-employed grants

2 x taxable grants based on 40% profits capped at £3,750 – covering start of November- end of January, and February-end of April.

III: Business grants

Targeting hospitality, hotels/BBs and leisure industries. Grants between £934-£2,100 based on rateable value for each month in Tier 2. These grants can be backdated to August.

Tier 2 – High Alert Level

Birmingham remains in Tier 2 – High Alert level because case rates exceed 100 per 100,000 population.

Social or Support Bubble?

Government websites use the term ‘Support Bubble’. Some organisations and individuals refer to ‘social bubbles’. They are the same thing: a single adult household linking up with another household of any size for support especially emotional and mental.

Self isolation / Shielding / Social Distancing – what’s the difference?

Airport Tests for people travelling to Hong Kong

Hong Kong requires people arriving from the UK to show a negative test result, taken within 72 hours. A private saliva swab test is now available at Terminal 2 and 5 at Heathrow Airport. The test currently costs £80, results are available within 1 hour.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54604100

Human Challenge research

Imperial College London is leading Covid-19 vaccine research by injecting volunteers with the virus then testing to see if a vaccine prevents infection.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54612293

Zoe Covid Symptom Study app

Jointly created by Kings College London and health science company Zoe, the aim is to track the long term effects of Covid-19 by people uploading their symptoms on a daily basis. The Zoe app is separate from the NHS Test & Trace app but is supported by Government.

The app can only be downloaded onto smartphones at the moment.

Requires iOS 10.0 or Android 5.0 and up.

https://covid.joinzoe.com/data

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54622059

UK Covid-19 Dashboard

Shows the number of cases and deaths in your local area over a 7 day period up to 2 days ago. The dashboard can be downloaded to smartphones and computers.

http://ukcovid19.nw.r.appspot.com/

Covid-19 Community Champions Briefing – Key Message

Birmingham Director of Public Health Dr Justin Varney advises people not to check case rates on a daily basis as numbers go up and down during the week. He advises people to pick a day, and check on the same day each week. Birmingham Council’s dashboard is updated each Tuesday.