Coronavirus – Oxfordshire Community Situation Report #4
Date: 20th March 2020
We are concerned residents who have set up the ‘Oxford Virus Action Group’ on facebook to help people in East Oxford cope with the impact of the pandemic. We can be contacted via email on oxfordvirusactiongroup@gmail.com
The aims of the Oxford Virus Action Group:
a) to pull together and share verified information
b) to learn from you about any gaps - particularly gaps that are affecting more vulnerable groups – that need addressing
c) to see how between us we can address those gaps
Daily sit rep: We aim to update this situation report daily by 5.00 pm. If you have anything you want to contribute please send it to us by email to oxfordvirusactiongroup@gmail.com or send a text message to the Virus Action Group on 07384939145.
Key figures and information
People confirmed sick in Oxfordshire by Public Health England: 34 (20/03/2020).
People self-isolating due to symptoms: unknown
People quarantining due to being in vulnerable group: unknown
Schools: partially closed, see ‘Schools’ below. All schools closed from Friday. Exceptions for children of key workers, and children who are vulnerable. Exams will not take place in May and June.
Nurseries: Nurseries will be asked to close from Friday. Exceptions for children of key workers, and children who are vulnerable may apply.
Sources of information
Oxford Mail – Local news on Coronavirus at https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/oxford/
BBC Oxford – Local and national news including on Coronavirus at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-51851438
NHS Oxford – the latest health advice can be found on their website https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/news/coronavirus-covid-19/
Independent Stores and Supermarkets
Independent stores offering a wide range of services are a key part of our communities. In response to COVID-19 many of them are offering vouchers and delivery services. Find all the details here.
Supermarkets
Sainsbury’s:
· until further notice: customers can only buy three of each grocery item at a time;
· until further notice: customers can only buy two of the most popular stockpiled items (for example, toilet paper, soap and long-life milk) at a time;
· Sainsbury’s cafes, meat, fish and pizza counters are closed
· from Monday, online shoppers who are over 70 years of age or have a disability will have priority access to online delivery slots.
· from Monday, online shoppers can use an expanded 'click and collect' service
· Sainsbury's Assisted Shopping scheme helps people who are housebound and cannot travel to the shops or those who cannot manage online shopping by allowing them to make shopping orders over the telephone. Orders placed before 6:00pm can even be delivered the next day. People must register via the telephone before they can place telephone orders.For more information about delivery costs and registering for the service, please contact Sainsburys Assisted Shopping directly at 0800 328 1700
Aldi has announced a recruitment drive to hire 9,000 new workers, including 4,000 permanent jobs, to help keep shelves filled during the coronavirus outbreak.
The supermarket added that all nappies and paper products, including toilet and kitchen roll, will now be restricted to two items per customer. All other products will remain restricted to four items per customer, with a few exceptions.
Tesco has put into place restrictions on the number of popular goods customers can buy.
ASDA: Customers can only buy three items for all food items, toiletries, and cleaning products.
Morrisons is dedicating one hour, between 9am and 10am, Monday to Saturday where the vulnerable and the elderly will be given more help in the store.
OCADO have suspended taking new orders because they are overwhelmed.
Waitrose: From Friday 20 March, Waitrose shops will dedicate the first hour of opening as a priority shopping time for the elderly, the vulnerable and those who look after them. Our waitrose.com team is also looking into ways to support vulnerable customers who need food delivered to them.
Jericho: East West Provisions are offering a home delivery service on weekdays, subject to a minimum order of £10. Orders can be placed by email info@eastwestprovisions.co.uk (this is preferred) or by phone 01865 311288. Call with a list of what is needed; delivery address; phone number; any specific delivery details; day required. They aim to deliver between 1-3pm Mon-Fri. They are happy for people to pick items and process the payment so that they can simply come to the shop and collect. Delivery agents won't come into people's homes to protect their customers. Payment can be by card or cheque. Cash is also accepted if the other alternatives are not suitable.
A google doc with a list of independent Oxford shops and Summertown supermarkets can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/yxyncnmc
Pharmacy
Ahmey's Pharmacy (150 Oxford Road, Temple Colwey, OX4 2EA) are running delivery services to local residents in Cowley, Rose Hill and BlackBird Leys. They are overwhelmed and very busy and ask that only people call them who really need their services. They close at 7 pm, Monday to Saturday. Their phone number is 01865 770121.
Academic staff needed
The John Radcliffe hospital is looking for academic staff with molecular biology and ideally PCR/qPCR experience to help deliver increasing numbers of Covid-19 screening tests. This is paid work. Please email susanne.hodgson@spc.ox.ac.uk if you can help.
Communicators needed
to help volunteer groups responding to covid-19 with their communications. Calling people who can build websites, design graphics, write copy, create messaging, plan and strategise, illustrate, animate, make and edit video, and design social media communications that fly. Please email Lucy Warin (lucy@transitionbydesign.org) with a sentence or two about your skills and availability.
Council support
City Council and Oxford Hub have created new Locality Response Centres to meet the challenges of coronavirus and vulnerable people to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
The new Locality Response Centres will begin operating in the next week, with five teams across the city – North, South, East, West and Central. The outline aim is to provide a response for common issues for the vulnerable such as isolation, routine pharmacy services and food services, and to co-ordinate council and voluntary sector services in each locality.
Each Centre will have a budget and resources allocated, as well as being able to use the normal budget and resources the Council teams provide. More details will be announced as the Centres get ready to open.
Oxford Hub is co-ordinating local people wanting to volunteer to support their community. Anyone wanting to volunteer can register their details online at www.oxfordtogether.org . Any voluntary or charitable organisation, social enterprise or cooperative can add information on what they are doing or able to do in the ‘collaborate’ form on the Oxford Together webpage
· Neighbourhood-based volunteer groups
· Anyone who is healthy and low risk can sign up
· We currently have Oxford Hub Street Champions groups confirmed for Temple Road, Charles Street, Divinity Road, Hilltop Road. (Please send us more information). Sign up here if you are able to help
Street level support and online groups active
KEEN: The charity KEEN have set up a website where they collect information on Coronavirus support groups across the county: www.oxfordshireallin.org. The objective of the website is to collect information on where service is provided in the county (road by road - like an election campaign) and to see which areas in Oxfordshire are not receiving support.
Oxford Covid-19 Mutual Aid groups are active in various locations in Oxford.
· They are Neighbourhood-based WhatsApp volunteer action groups
· Ask for help (deliveries, emotional support, etc) for yourself or others
· Share community resources to a large group
· To ask for and offer support you can use their google doc: https://tinyurl.com/vhlozfw
The Oxford COVID-19 Mutual Aid group sent the following up date about their work in the city:
· We have formed a full Comms team with 6 members to manage outreach.
· We are planning to do strategic poster placing at key shops, etc. and contact radio and news outlets to get word out about the support we provide.
· We have spoken with the Oxford Hub about our differing programs and agreed to collaborate where possible whilst still running our own programs. We will be trying to produce daily reports of our own activities, with the Oxford Hub aiming for reports every 2-3 days to complement the excellent work you guys [Oxford Virus Action Group] are doing.
· We are working on further coordinating with local businesses in order to prepare for mass support requirements in the event of a lockdown
· We are developing a phone line service that should hopefully be ready by the end of the day.
· Daily coordinating call on zoom at 3pm
· Publishes daily situation report by 5pm with local information and resources
· Interested in any gaps - particularly gaps that are affecting more vulnerable groups – that need addressing
· Can be contacted via Facebook message or by text to 07384939145
· Online website that connects people living in the same neighborhood
· Some help offered to self-isolating or vulnerable people;
· Some local information exchanged
Outside of Oxford, the following groups exist:
· Kidlington - Nextdoor group for Kidlington
· Abingdon - Abingdon Coronavirus Community Response Facebook group
· Great Western Park, Didcot - GWP Residents Association www.gwpra.org.uk/covid19support
· Blewbury - Blewbury Good Neighbours FB group. Run by local post master 01235 851777
· Chilton - Chilton Mutual Aid Group FB group
· South & Vale except Abingdon - South Oxfordshire & Vale CIVUD-19 Response FB group
· Eynsham - Eynsham Volunteers- Corona Virus Help FB group
· Combe - Combe People Need FB group
· North Oxfordshire - volunteer driver service to drop off food www.canosn.org.uk/covid-19-cherwell-local-response
· Bicester - Corona Virus Helpers Bicester and Surrounding Villages FB group
· Launton - Help For Self-Isolating Launton Residents FB group
Other online communities:
Boaters
Dogwalking
· Waggies Dogwalking Service (Oxford-based)
Health
Latest health advice can be found at the NHS Oxfordshire website: https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/news/coronavirus-covid-19/
Protocols for food deliveries for neighbours and virus safety are available here: https://tinyurl.com/v9q5v3l. Let us know if you are using them and how you find them.
Syrian Sisters Coronavirus health briefing in Arabic, 8pm on Friday. https://www.facebook.com/events/142565997082311/
Mental health support
Oxfordshire Mind have a page of advice for those who are self-isolating https://www.oxfordshiremind.org.uk/coronavirus-and-your-we…/
Help Hub West Oxford, a group of qualified therapists are offering free 20 minute chats on Skype, FaceTime or on the telephone. They hope to have our website working by the week commencing 23/3/20, which will be posted in the Situation Report. https://www.facebook.com/The-Help-Hub-West-Oxford-101295094839536/
St Mary and St Nicholas Church, Littlemore (Church of England) are offering pastoral care by email or phone, at vicar@littlemorechurch.org and 01865 748003.
For more tips and resources for Covid-19 anxiety and isolation see here: https://tinyurl.com/rotxwgu
To professional caterers
Oxford Food Bank can take your leftover food stocks (anything fresh or otherwise).
Contact: Emma - admin@oxfordfoodbank.org or 01865 236420
Education
Does anyone have advice for parents worried about support for vulnerable children if schools close?
Union (NASWT) advice for schools available here: https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/…/5d972862-d4f6-44f4-8f34a9044a0a…
Oxford Medical Students Helping Hands: an Oxford network to help coordinate childcare relief by medical students for clinicians during Covid-19
A local group has being set up to help families who rely on free school meals: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScoI393PuMqnb5s-4DvU2uVykiwBODExr4p7hy5MqbHncIZMg/viewform
Childcare support for NHS Workers and other essential employees is being coordinated here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf-RGS8cL8vd3YuLQXBm--F0Ek_z4R-qV3hGHRM5ryZcDPa6Q/viewform
Schools
All schools closed from Friday afternoon onwards. Exceptions for children of key workers, and children who are vulnerable. Exams will not take place in May and June.
Schools that are staying open for key workers are also running food banks and keeping those going for vulnerable families. So people wanting to make donations could check their local school and see if they can make donations
Homelessness / Vulnerable Housing
Government announced it would introduce emergency legislation to bring in a complete ban on new evictions for three months as part of measures to help protect renters in social and private rented accommodation.
Government has announced £3.2 million emergency support for rough sleepers during coronavirus outbreak https://www.gov.uk/…/3-2-million-emergency-support-for-roug…
Oxford City Council has promised support for renters during coronavirus crisis. See https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18319434.oxford-city-council-promises-support-renters-coronavirus-crisis/ for more information and follow Cllr Linda Smith, Deputy Leader, Oxford City Council and cabinet lead on Homelessness @LabLinda75
Oxford Tenants Union have published an open letter to Oxford City Council asking for urgent action to be taken to protect Oxford renters. They are also collecting testimonies from Oxford residents concerned about the impact of Coronavirus on their ability to pay rent. https://oxfordtenantsunion.wordpress.com
Prisons and Immigration Detainees
Unknown. Please send us any information you have. A prisoner in HMP Manchester became the first in the UK to test positive for the coronavirus. The inmate is currently being treated in hospital.
Older People / Other Vulnerable Groups
Many people are self-isolating. Groups are springing up to support people who may need items to their door.
Oxfordshire Age UK have set up a new telephone support service for older people in Oxfordshire: 01865 411 288. If you leave your name and phone number, they will call you back.
Daudhar News, 96-100 Horspath Road Cowley have free packs of Dettol Soap and a face mask for older and vulnerable people only. Daudhar News accept donations that will go towards providing more packs.
Safeguarding resources can be found at https://tinyurl.com/tm5mvuj
Citizens Advice
You can still contact Citizens Advice per phone at 0300 330 9037, or email at advice@citizensadvicenosn.org.uk They are expecting a high number of calls and waiting times may be long.
Universal Credit
For help with claiming Universal Credit, you can contact Citizens Advice at 0800 144 8 444.
Hospitals
Sobell House have asked people not to visit the charity office based at the Hospice until further notice.
Hospitals and GP practices across the UK increasingly face shortages of personal protective equipment, placing health workers at greater risk of contracting Covid-19: Link
Food services
For a map and database of services providing free or subsidised food within Oxford see https://www.oxford.gov.uk/foodservicesmap?fbclid=IwAR13qgSnEjfyPS8yWNQFg6Cbt2-8YX_XkVr69Je9MDAW5rQ8TLKHnLZGOFM
Botley Community fridge is open Friday 20 March 3:15-4:15; Saturday 21 March 10:30-11:30. Anyone can put food into it, and anyone can take food out. Food parcels for people in need are available. If you are in isolation and need food, contact 07759 135811 or riki@phonecoop.coop and they’ll bring you a food parcel.
Banbury & Cherwell: Are you looking to help support our elderly and vulnerable community members during the #COVID19 situation? If you have a car and some time we need your help.
As a response to #COVID19 local charities Citizens Advice North Oxfordshire and SOFEA are launching a new service to help elderly and vulnerable people get supplies for free during this unusual time. We are looking for volunteer drivers to deliver supplies to people’s doors across Banbury, and eventually across Cherwell. If you have access to a car and are willing to give some of your time to help those who need it more than ever please follow this link: https://tinyurl.com/tra7vf7
Another way to get involved is to donate to the service, a donation of just £3 will help us to ensure we can deliver vital supplies to our elderly and vulnerable community members. You can donate here: https://tinyurl.com/vseeuav
This service is starting in Banbury on Monday, delivering over 200 food parcels from the food bank. It will be widened out to the rest of Cherwell ASAP once any problems are ironed out. Will post further updates!
Transport
Royal Cars Oxford will be providing online shop collections for over-65's and anyone in self-isolation within the Oxford area. This service if free for all over 65. All other bookings are card only: either prepaid or contactless payments at the end of the journey. To access this service, call them at 01865 777 333 with the store you’ve ordered from; your order number; and your delivery address.
Oxford Bus Company will reduce services from this Monday, March 23. An updated schedule is expected by the end of this week.
Minority groups / Non-English language speakers
Central Oxford Mosque in Manzil way is closing tonight until further notice.
Syrian Sisters Coronavirus health briefing in Arabic is happening at 8pm on Friday. https://www.facebook.com/events/142565997082311/
Do people have information about support available for other groups who might need targeted help?
Coronavirus information in various languages:
Available now: English, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Dari, Farsi, French, Hindi, Kurdish Surani, Malayalam, Mandarin, Pashto, Portuguese, Somali, Spanish, Tigrinya, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese
Coming VERY soon: Polish, Punjabi, Romanian
Economy
Many self employed and small businesses will be facing huge challenges.
Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership is a focal point for information of support in this area. Information available at https://www.oxfordshirelep.com/business.
Issues concerning business rates are dealt with by the City Council – see https://www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20020/business_rates
Cowley BMW Mini plant will close for a month from this Friday, March 20th.
Safeguarding
It’s heartening to find so many people wanting to help those who are vulnerable or needing to self-isolate. But Thames Valley Police say that while they don’t want to discourage anyone from helping their neighbours or family members in this time of need and do not want to breed distrust in those genuine offers of help, they are advising the elderly to try and only liaise with someone they are familiar with and if necessary to give small amounts of cash for essentials and do not hand over a bank card.
For those wishing to help they continue: "Please look out for your neighbours and family members who may not have access to social media and therefore will not be receiving this information."
University of Oxford
Overall, the university is operational. All university libraries and museums have been closed until further notice. There are at least seven cases of students who tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. UK undergraduate students and UK taught postgraduates who have homes outside Oxford have been advised to leave the University as soon as possible unless they have a compelling reason to stay.
Postgraduate Research students are encouraged to work from home, or from their University/College accommodation, if it is practical to do so. The university advises international students to make individual choices based on personal circumstances.
The student group ‘Oxford Living Wage Campaign’ are concerned about the health, safety, and economic situation of Oxford University and college employees, particularly low-wage workers. Get in touch with them at oxfordworkerjustice@gmail.com
Oxford Brookes University
The University has announced reported 2 cases reading weeks until 3rd April. For more information see: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/alerts/coronavirus/; and https://www.brookesunion.org.uk/articles/covid-19-update.
Unions
Postal workers: Information about planned postal workers strike that the union has called off because of the COVID-19 emergency. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/coronavirus-posties-offer-halt-strike-21708436
Hospitality workers: An emergency “TiPJAR” fund has been created for Oxford hospitality workers who face losing their jobs because of the crisis.
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18321207.emergency-tipjar-fund-created-oxford-hospitality-workers/
Cancelled events
Oxford Pride
May Morning
Upcoming events
Daily coordinating calls for the Oxford Virus Action Group happen at 3 pm. Links will be posted on our facebook page.
Contributions and comments
Please send us any contributions or comments per email to oxfordvirusactiongroup@gmail.com or by text message on 07384939145. Any contributions received before 2pm will go into that day’s situation report.
