We all want to look after our own health and the health of the people we care about to the best of our ability. The children James Hopkins Trust cares for are at the heart of everything we do so we have taken the opportunity to share this advice with you from Public Health England and the Foreign Office:

At James Hopkins Trust, we take our responsibility to infection prevention control seriously and in line with Public Health England are asking all our staff, families, volunteers and visitors to Kites Corner to adhere to the following guidelines

These are general principles anyone can follow to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses, including:

• When you arrive at Kites Corner, please use the hand sanitiser provided at the entrance to the building and before entering the children’s areas, and again when leaving.

• Wash your hands often – with soap and water, or use alcohol sanitiser that contains at least 60% alcohol if handwashing facilities are not available – this is particularly important after taking public transport. Guidance is available on hand washing
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throwing the tissue in a bin. See Catch It, Bin It, Kill It
• People who feel unwell should stay at home and should not come to Kites Corner.
• Individuals should wash their hands:
  • before leaving home
  • on arrival at their destination
  • after using the toilet
  • after breaks and sporting activities
  • before food preparation
  • before eating any food, including snacks
  • before leaving their destination
  • on arrival at home
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces
• If staff, volunteers, families or visitors to Kites Corner are worried about their symptoms or those of a family member or colleague, please do not come to Kites Corner but call NHS 111. They should not go to their GP or other healthcare environment

This guidance is intended for the current position in the UK where there is currently no transmission of COVID-19 in the community. It is therefore very unlikely that anyone receiving care in a care home, respite centre or the community will become infected.

Information about the virus

A coronavirus is a type of virus. As a group, coronaviruses are common across the world. Typical symptoms of coronavirus include fever and a cough that may progress to a severe pneumonia causing shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

Generally, coronavirus can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease.

Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan City, China. The incubation period of COVID-19, is between 2 to 14 days. This means that if a person remains well 14 days after contact with someone with confirmed coronavirus, they have not become a case.

There is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus.

 How COVID-19 is spread

From what we know about other coronaviruses, spread of COVID-19 is most likely to happen when there is close contact (within 2 metres) with an infected person. It is likely that the risk increases the longer someone has close contact with an infected person.

Respiratory secretions containing the virus are most likely to be the most important means of transmission; these are produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, in the same way colds spread.

There are 2 main routes by which people can spread COVID-19:

• infection can be spread to people who are nearby (within 2 metres) or possibly could be inhaled into the lungs
• it is also possible that someone may become infected by touching a surface, object or the hand of an infected person that has been contaminated with respiratory secretions and then touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes (such as touching door knob or shaking hands then touching own face). Our current understanding is that the virus doesn’t survive on surfaces for longer than 72 hours.

There is currently little evidence that people without symptoms are infectious to others.

 What should I do?

If you have returned from these specific areas since February 19, you should call NHS 111 and stay indoors and avoid contact with other people even if you do not have symptoms:

• Iran
• Specific lockdown areas in the Lombardy and Veneto regions of Northern Italy as designated by the Government of Italy
• Daegu or Cheongdo in South Korea
• Hubei province (returned in the past 14 days)

If you have returned from these areas since February 19th and develop symptoms, however mild, you should stay indoors at home and avoid contact with other people immediately and call NHS 111:

• Northern Italy (defined as North of Pisa but not including Pisa, Florence and Rimini)
• Vietnam
• Cambodia
• Laos
• Myanmar

If you have a cough, or fever or shortness of breath and have visited any of the following areas in the last 14 days stay indoors and call NHS 111 informing them of your recent travel to the city.

• China
• Thailand
• Japan
• Republic of Korea
• Hong Kong
• Taiwan
• Singapore
• Malaysia
• Macau

Public Health, England, are advising you should not be unduly worried about the possibility of you or your children catching the Coronavirus. You can only catch it if you have been close to a person who has the virus and the chance of being in contact with the virus is currently low to moderate in the UK. However, if you have travelled to areas where many people are infected, your chance of catching the virus is higher. There is no reason why your children should not continue to attend their respite sessions here at Kites Corner, or their early years, school or further education setting as normal.

The government is closely monitoring the spread of the Coronavirus and is taking action at home and abroad. The overall risk of Coronavirus to the UK remains moderate, however we understand that people may be concerned if they are in contact with individuals returning from or visiting countries affected.  If this affects you, please refer to the FCO’s latest travel advice via these links

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/china

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-and-avian-flu-advice-for-travel-to-china

You can find the latest information and advice from Public Health England a https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-information-for-the-public

We hope that this information is useful and thank you for helping us to maintain excellent hygiene standards and infection control within Kites Corner.