At times like these it is great to be able to share good news so I was delighted that last week Preston Primary in Yeovil made the Sunday Times top 100 list of primary schools in the country. All the staff, pupils and governors deserve hearty congratulations for what is a brilliant effort sustained over many years. It just goes to show that when we in our area put our mind to it we can achieve great things.
Our NHS is also doing sterling work locally at the moment. I have been in close touch with Yeovil District Hospital throughout the COVID period and we should all be proud that the hospital is performing well despite the pressures. I want to thank the staff for their dedication and fortitude during these trying times.
Yeovil has been experiencing a higher level of positive COVID tests during the last month but the rate of new positive tests appears to be stable or improving, and I want to thank everyone in the community for the efforts they have been making to reduce and be careful about contact with others. We need to keep up the effort.
While busy, the hospital’s situation is stable with reasonable capacity headroom at current rates of infection, and people should not put off approaching the NHS with non-COVID health concerns. Rapid lateral flow testing which I pushed for nationally is now available for the hospital workforce which should help staff from getting sick or having to isolate. These rapid tests are also available locally for focus on particular areas of concern, and this together with the more general uplift in testing rates locally in recent weeks and isolation where necessary should I hope continue to stem the spread of the virus.
In view of the need to keep the above improvement going I am content for Somerset to be in Tier 2 of local restrictions for the time being. I am heartened that in Tier 2 hospitality closing time has been reset to 11pm, allowing multiple covers a night where there is demand. However I would like to see us moved into Tier 1 as soon as possible, for example to make sure there is more demand by allowing people to see those from other households in hospitality settings, which have made big efforts to keep people safe when they do so.
I have been very concerned to make sure Government reviews this system properly in the near future, to take proper account of what I hope will be continued local improvements, and for that reason as well as my concern that some seem to be arguing for these restrictions until Easter or beyond without a clear analysis of the costs in health and economic terms of doing so, I was unable to support the Government this week in placing us by the particular regulation in Tier 2 until February without further Parliamentary approval.
At times of crisis we need to be vigilant about people’s wider interests and provide a sensible dialectic about them. We already know the COVID crisis will have long duration financial and other consequences and these responsibilities must be carefully weighed.
As always if you would like my help with anything or to share your views please get in touch at marcus.fysh.mp@parliament.uk or on 01935 314321.