The government this week announced a second tranche of funding worth £1.6 billion to help councils cope with the extra costs caused by the coronavirus. Hastings Borough Council says the allocation is well below what it really needs. Nick Terdre reports.
Having helped secure £2m for the Heritage Action Zone project, Heart of Hastings is now involved in implementing the project, as well as playing an active role in the community response to the coronavirus crisis. But it continues to feel the loss of what would have been its flagship project, leading a community effort to build a housing estate full of affordable homes in the Ore Valley. This dream was shattered when the owner of the site, Sea Space, decided last year to sell it to a private developer. Nick Terdre reports.
Nearly four weeks after the UK entered into lockdown, care homes have finally hit the headlines, as issues such as the lack of personal protective equipment for staff and the substantial under-reporting of deaths among residents come to the fore. In Hastings grassroots suppliers are helping to fill the equipment gap, while East Sussex County Council is also taking action to improve the supply of PPE. Care sector sources are talking of fatalities in the thousands. Nick Terdre reports.
As the coronavirus works its way towards peak effect, HOT is providing a regular update of the statistics for our region and the country provided by the public health authorities and other official sources. Further information on deaths was made available by the Office of National Statistics today, indicating a significant gender difference and a greater prevalence among people of 70 or over. Text by Russell Hall and Nick Terdre, charts by Russell Hall.
Evidence has emerged in Hastings of a lack of PPE – personal protective equipment – in GP surgeries even as controversy rages nationally over PPE supplies to frontline staff. Nick Terdre reports.
Local refugee support organisations have expressed relief that several dozen people who last week made landfall in Hastings and Winchelsea after crossing the Channel in small boats arrived safely and without serious injury. Nick Terdre reports.
The number of critical care beds has been doubled as East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust implements a series of measures to enable it to cope with the coronavirus outbreak. The number of Covid-19 deaths in East Sussex stands at 10. Nick Terdre reports.
As the corona virus tightens its grip on society, there has been a heart-warming upswell across the country of support and offers of help for those who most need it – the elderly, vulnerable, those suffering from the virus and those who for whatever reason are unable to provide for themselves in conditions of lockdown. Hastings Borough Council, together with partners, has set up a community hub to coordinate the effort. Nick Terdre reports.
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