All our help and information is now available in a single place on the SCC website https://www.somerset.gov.uk/latest-coronavirus-updates/
This page is refreshed through the day so please check in regularly to keep across developments and news.
Public Health dashboard: Detailed Public Health information dashboards are available on our website www.somerset.gov.uk/coronavirus just scroll down to ‘Covid-19 dashboard’. These are updated daily.
Top stories today:
£6m boost for Somerset’s economy
Somerset County Council has announced details of a £6m package of funding to kickstart Somerset’s economy as the nation starts on the road to recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The cash boost will include financial support for businesses, financial support for individuals and a range of other measures to stimulate the economy and boost the county as it recovers from coronavirus.
The funding will include:
- Financial support for businesses – assistance for the recovery and growth of businesses in Somerset, focussing on those which have not been eligible for assistance from Government’s schemes.
- Financial support for individuals – assistance for self-employed people who have not been eligible for assistance from Government’s schemes and for less advantaged individuals with costs associated job search and returning to work.
- Business start, restart and recovery – providing business start-ups with support, offering targeted support to hard hit sectors and support for local buying.
- Stimulating the economy – investment in strategic actions to drive longer term recovery, clean and inclusive growth and levelling up in Somerset.
The new Bruton Enterprise Centre and West Somerset business Singer Instruments both feature in a new short film from former BBC reporter Clinton Rogers who finds out more about how Somerset County Council is supporting local businesses. You can watch the film here.
Busting the myths around Covid vaccination
Free training is available to anyone in Somerset to help them spread the word and bust any myths about coronavirus vaccinations.
Spark Somerset has been working with Somerset County Council to help local people access information about Covid-19 in a way that makes sense to them through the Covid Community Champion Network.
Vaccination Myth Buster Training is now on offer to anyone who is in a position to have conversations about the vaccine. This will be on Zoom on Wednesday 9 June, 7-9pm.
The training is delivered by Fatou Mendy Sambou from Public Health and Helen Fielden from Spark Somerset and covers the following:
- The latest information about how the vaccines work, how they’re made and possible side effects.
- Common myths and misconceptions about the vaccine.
- The basics of how to have open, supportive conversations.
- Where to signpost people to if they have more questions. To find out more, and to book your place click HERE.
People attending this training will also be offered the opportunity to become Vaccination Buddies: specially trained volunteers who have supportive telephone calls with people who have questions and concerns about the Covid-19 vaccine.
Online vaccination booking open to people aged 30 and over
The online vaccination booking system is now available to those aged 30 or over, or if you’ll turn 30 before 1 July 2021: Book or manage your coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Meanwhile, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has authorised the single-dose Janssen Covid-19 vaccine for the UK. This is the fourth Covid-19 vaccine to be authorised by the UK’s independent regulator and is the first to be approved for protection against Covid-19 with a single dose.
New labels for virus variants
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced labels for COVID-19 variants which are often named after the places where they are first detected. The B.1.1.7 variant – known as the UK/Kent variant – has now labelled by the WHO as Alpha.
The B.1.617.2 variant, first identified in India, has been labelled Delta, while B.1.351, often referred to as the South African variant, has been named Beta. The P.1 Brazilian variant has been labelled Gamma. Public Health England has said it is considering whether to adopt the WHO’s new naming system for variants designed to avoid stigma.