Last updated 19 February
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National Lockdown #3
The key message from the government is to stay at home as much as possible, and only go out for the following reasons:
- Shopping for necessities.
- Going to work or to volunteer or provide charitable services if you can’t work from home.
- Exercising with your household (or support bubble) or one other person, once a day and within your local area.
- To meet your support or childcare bubble (only if you’re legally able to form one).
- To seek medical assistance (like going to your GP surgery or to a pharmacy).
- To avoid injury, illness or risk of harm (such as domestic violence).
- To provide care for disabled or vulnerable people.
- To go to school or other education or childcare settings (if eligible).
Under these new restrictions, you can’t meet socially with anyone you don’t live with or aren’t in a support bubble with, besides meeting one person to exercise together. You must remain two metres away from them at all times. Meeting in larger groups isn’t allowed apart from a small number of circumstances such as for funerals.
Full details of what is and isn’t allowed
(Updated 22 February)
Roadmap out of Lockdown
The government has published a paper outlining a ‘roadmap’ for releasing the current lockdown in four stages, each separated by at least five weeks. Other than ‘Step 1’, the dates below represent the earliest time certain measures can come into force. As we approach each step detailed regulation and guidance will be published.
Summary timeline:
Step 1(a) – 8 March
- Schools open, and outdoor after-school sports allowed.
- Two people allowed to sit together outdoors.
- Care home residents allowed one regular visitor.
Step 1(b) – 29 March
- Six people, or two complete households, may meet together outdoors.
- Outdoor sports facilities open.
- Travel outside local area allowed (though no overnight stays).
Step 2 – 12 April, or later
- Non-essential retail and personal care (e.g. hairdressers) open.
- Public buildings (e.g. libraries and community centres) may reopen.
- Hospitality (e.g. pubs, restaurants) outdoors can open. This includes outdoor entertainment, e.g. theme parks.
- Indoor leisure facilities open (e.g. gyms & swimming pools).
- Self-contained holiday accommodation (including second homes) may be used.
- A review of global travel options will be published.
Step 3 – 17 May, or later
- Outdoors most social contact rules lifted; although gatherings of more than 30 people will remain illegal.
- Six people, or two complete households, may meet together indoors.
- Social distancing guidance may be revised.
- Indoor hospitality and hotels may open, though customers will still have to order, eat and drink whilst seated.
- Other indoor venues may reopen, including cinemas, indoor adult sports and exercise classes.
Step 4 – 21 June, or later
- All legal limits on social contact removed.
- All remaining closed sectors of the economy (e.g. nightclubs) to reopen.
A longer summary of these proposals may be found in this government document.
For those short of bedtime reading, the full (68 page) COVID-19 Response may be found here.
Meeting with others (Social Distancing)
(updated 7 January)
COVID-19: Local Vaccine Information
(including info on the National Booking Service)
Click here for information about the roll-out of the COVID-19 Vaccine in North Cumbria.
JCVI: Priorities for COVID-19 Vaccination
Antigen Testing & Contact Tracing
See these NHS pages for latest information on asking for a test, and how its “Test & Trace” system will work should a test prove positive.
Get a PCR Test
Find full details of PCR Test centres in Cumbria, including mobile testing units in Kirkby Stephen, Kendal and Penrith, at:
NHS North Cumbria CCG.
Lateral Flow Testing
Several sites in Cumbria now offer Lateral Flow Tests for asymptomatic residents.
VIDEO: Face Masks – Dos and Don’ts
The following is a selection of some of the other guidance documents
issued by the UK Government.
Guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus symptoms (updated 5 November)
Review of Social Distance Guidance & how to reduce risk (updated 26 June)
– includes example mitigations when adopting the “1m+” approach.
(updated 5 November)
Outbreak Control Plan for Cumbria
Cumbria County Council’s “Outbreak Control Plan” describes Cumbria’s approach to managing outbreaks of Covid-19.
The NHS coronavirus (COVID-19) page includes the latest health information
about how to protect yourself or check if you need medical help.
Community Support
No doubt you will have your closer friends and neighbours who can help out should the need arise. But, if you find yourself needing additional help, it’s not daft, silly, or being a nuisance to shout out. It’s just being part of the community. 🙂
So, if you have any concerns, need support with shopping, prescriptions or just someone to talk to please get in touch with:
- The following (who have agreed to their phone numbers being shared).
Great Asby – Bill Kerr – 07816 987806
Little Asby – Carole Cozens – 01539 623112 - A local Priest, or one of the Church Wardens.
(Details on church notice boards, or “Asby Matters”.)
Community representatives are all here to help you with your day to day needs through this very difficult time.
…or, Here is another way to ask for assistance:
Asby Parish Message Service has 170+ subscribers.
If you would like to request some help from your local community simply click on the button below. Ensure to include your name, contact information, and details of your requirements.
NOTE: You can request support for a friend or neighbour who doesn’t have internet access.
Obviously do get their permission before using this service in that way.
Cumbria-wide Support
(Click on the image for more information.)
(Click on the image for more information
on services such as child care,
highways, and household waste.)
Online Support sessions with public health nurses
Cumbria’s public health nurses are holding online support sessions to offer health advice for those caring for children and young people aged between 5 – 19 years old.
The sessions run each Tuesday and Thursday via a live video link that is private and secure. During the consultation the nurse will assess the health query presented and provide support and advice. Full details here.
Local Food & Drink
The Three Greyhounds
The pub is currently closed until the Covid situation improves.
Entertainment & Education
Mirthy.co.uk is a new online platform for professional public speakers, often retirees themselves, to provide online talks to older adults in the comfort of their homes. (Though anyone can attend, no matter how young!)
You can join a free talk each Thursday. The next scheduled talk is entitled ’50 Years in TV’ by Jim Whelan on 17 December at 4pm. (Described as ‘’Entertaining and informative, delivered with wit and panache.”)
You need to register to join a talk but that is easily done – just visit the Murthy website. Whilst there why not sign up to receive regular updates on future talks.
Cumbria County Council’s library teams have put together a handy guide with some of the best websites and online resources.
Whether you are home schooling your children, you enjoy books and reading, you love a spot of culture, or you are looking for reliable health information, you will find something of interest in our selection of quality websites, which have all been checked and assessed by the library staff.
Music
Listen to some of the world’s best Classical orchestras live-streaming, or that have made their concert archives available online. Click here.
The Aurora are a British chamber orchestra who give virtuoso performances that verge on theatre. For a start, they play entirely from memory, and standing up! “Aurora Play” is a new digital series showcasing the best of their orchestral adventures online.
Check out their Youtube channel. There you can also experience their ways of making classical music more fun and accessible, especially to children.
Theatre
Access to free full-length plays streaming on YouTube has now sadly come to an end.
Click here and subscribe to the National Theatre Home channel.
Pentabus is a touring theatre company whose plays particularly relate to rural life. Many of their performances take place in village halls – you have seen them in Kirkby Stephen?
Their website contains a ever changing example sof their work.
Museums & Galleries
The British Museum is just one of the many world renowned organisations that allow you to view their treasures online. As a starting point, check out this list of a dozen virtual tours. Click here.
The 75 Best Virtual Museum Tours Around the World
A list of 75 world-class museums that offer virtual tours that you can visit from the comfort of your own home. The list is divided into four sections: art galleries, natural history, science and technology, and history museums.
This article has details on each one as well as information on how to do the tour.
…or Why Not Learn Something New!
There’s probably some topic you’ve been dying to learn about for ages; well now’s your chance! The Open University have a wide range of free short courses on all manner of things, including the Arts. Click here.
Virtual Travel
You may have been lucky enough to have been able to take a summer holiday, but random Covid outbreaks and the threat on quarantine have rather taken the gloss of travel right now. So, why not lose yourself in a bit of ‘virtual travel’?
20 Amazing Places You Can Visit Without Leaving Home
Join a Live Safari in South Africa, or a 360 degree deep dive with sea lions.
Walk the Great Wall of China, tour the Palace of Versailles, or the Sistine Chapel.
Spend a few minutes (or hours) anticipating the arrival of the Northern Lights, and wondering at their awesome spectacle, via a Live fed from Manitoba, Canada. …and all without getting cold!
Protecting Yourself
Learn how COVID-19 is spread, and how you can protect yourself
from its spread.
You’ve been washing your hands all your life, you don’t need
to be told how to do it. Right??
What happens if someone in your family gets COVID symptoms?
Get tested!
You & your family need to isolate:
Wellbeing
10 Tips to help if you are worried about Coronavirus
The COVID-19 outbreak means that life is changing for all of us for a while. It may cause you to feel anxious, stressed, worried, sad, bored, lonely or frustrated.
It’s important to remember it is OK to feel this way and that everyone reacts differently. Remember, this situation is temporary and, for most of us, these difficult feelings will pass.
Here are 10 ways you can help improve your mental health and wellbeing if you are worried or anxious about the coronavirus outbreak.
A new service offering free online support to anyone aged 16 and over facing increased anxiety and other mental health challenges is now available to people in Cumbria.
Togetherall provides online peer-peer support, access to an anonymous community and lots of information, as well as courses and resources covering a range of mental health and wellbeing topics.
The service can be accessed by registering with your postcode, and logging in to the Togetherall website.
Currently we are all having to get used to the new way of living, personally and in our working lives. For many of us this can be a difficult thing. If you experience anxiety this can be a particularly tricky time.
But there is help out there, so please do reach out.
Financial Support
During the course of the Covid pandemic a whole range of financial support schemes have been made available.
For an update on the current situation on grants, loans, furlough, and other financial support check out this updated document (8 January). Thanks, as ever to Cecilia Fry of Patterdale for continuing to track all the relevant detail and produce this Information Sheet.
Due to the impact of Coronavirus over 5.5 million people are claiming Universal Credit.
Many of them are new to claiming Universal Credit having been negatively impacted by Coronavirus.
If you need to apply, possibly for the first time, then this guide should help.
Farming Support
The Farmer Network have launched a support line for coronavirus. They can offer farmers advice and support on topics including support schemes, sourcing supplies, preparing contingency plans and finding emergency labour. The helpline number is 01768 818865.
Volunteering
Support Cumbria is an official collaboration of partners across Cumbria who are working together to provide community support to residents who are struggling to access basic or essential services during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Please go to their website to volunteer your services.
It is also liaising with our local NHS to urgently provide volunteers for their COVID-19 Recovery Centres. Click here for details.
