Sheffield leaders come together with new plan to tackle Covid-19

The board will draw up a plan with three main aims - to stop the virus spreading, to know what is happening in communities and to respond to outbreaks if and when they happen.

Chaired by Council Leader Julie Dore, it will include councillors, the director of public health, representatives from BAME, faith, disability, parent and carer groups, the Student Union, GPs and NHS medical directors, the Chamber of Commerce and South Yorkshire Police.

Councils are required to set up a board and have a plan but there is no national guidance so each area is likely to approach it differently.

The board says preventing and controlling outbreaks is "critically important" if Sheffield reopens the economy while keeping society safe.

Prevention and control includes good basic hygiene, social distancing, isolating people displaying symptoms, the test and trace programme and managing outbreaks as and when they occur.

The board met for this first time this week and a draft report says: "One of the important tasks will be to consider carefully how Sheffield responds to new or changing Government guidance, and in particular where the science or public health advice locally does not accord with the national position.

"As we move into the next phase it is likely that the tensions between helping people and communities to stay safe and the wider reopening of the economy become more difficult.

"If and when this does occur, the board will need to consider how best to position, explain and communicate this to people - part of this will be about the effective communication of risk."

The board will plan scenarios for what the city will do in different sets of circumstances, for example if the R value is greater than 1 and Sheffield has a higher number of cases than expected.

It will communicate with residents and businesses about outbreak prevention and management, including what might be required for different types or scales of outbreak.

There will be a focus on communities and groups where outbreaks may be more likely or where they have occurred - particularly on strategies to change behaviour to limit the spread.

And it will also need to build people's confidence that the city can keep transmission of the virus low while reopening the economy.

The fortnightly meetings of the board will be in private but part of the meeting will be open to the public once a month for a question time and report.

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