Whilst this Monday is the day when most of the Government’s legally binding COVID-19 restrictions in England will be lifted, businesses and organisations in our village have been weighing up what ‘risks’ they are able or willing to take.
If you need to see a doctor or nurse in Ruddington, it seems things will stay very much the same, for now. A statement on behalf of the Church House Surgery on Shaw Street, says: “From the 19th July, Village Health Group will still be asking our patients and staff to:
- Continue wearing face coverings (unless medically exempt)
- Continue observing the 2 metre social distancing rule
- Continue with hand hygiene measures (washing hands where possible or using alcohol hand gel)”
It explains: “This is due to our healthcare setting being a place which cares for some of the most vulnerable patients within our community, and is also in line with Infection Prevention guidelines for all healthcare settings.”
For villagers at Ruddington Medical Centre, their statement issued today reads: “To ensure the safety of our staff and patients, as of 19th July it will remain mandatory for patients to wear a face covering and maintain social distancing whilst at Ruddington Medical Centre. Our website will be updated with any future guidance https://www.theruddingtonmedicalcentre.co.uk. Please do not contact the surgery.”
Extra information on their website advises: “We can only accommodate a maximum of 3 people waiting inside for the reception team. If there are more than 3 people queuing then please wait outside.” It adds: “Please use the secure silver box on the front of the surgery to post any prescription requests and correspondence.”
Other village healthcare settings, such as Ruddington Dental Practice, Rushcliffe Physiotherapy & Sports Injury Clinic and Evans Pharmacy, will also continue to require the wearing of a face covering and ‘social distancing’. Additionally, at the dentists, pre-screening questionnaires, hand sanitisation on arrival and a locked door policy to allow an appointment-only service will remain. These ongoing measures are deemed to be necessary in light of the still rising number of Coronavirus infections in Ruddington. Evans Pharmacy says: “Cases are increasing so please continue to lateral flow test. Test kits can be collected free of charge from the pharmacy on Charles Street. This is really important even if you are double vaccinated.” Not helped by outbreaks last month in both our schools, our village currently has a positive COVID-19 test rate of 694.2 per 100,000 people – well above the national average. Back in March we showed up as a white area on the case map (as shown below).
Tomorrow’s easing of restrictions has been preceded by another ‘push’ this weekend, encouraging those in our area who have had only a single dose or no dose of the COVID-19 vaccine so far to ‘grab a jab’ at one of our nearby vaccination centres – or aboard the ‘Vaccine Bus’ which has been visiting the Victoria Embankment, alongside the River Trent.
This mobile initiative is being promoted by Ruddington GP Dr Preeti Patel, who says: “Certainly we know locally, in Nottingham, there is a large cohort of younger people who haven’t come forward yet, whether that’s because of location or accessibility. So we take the bus to somewhere that is easily accessible for them and hopefully they’ll be more likely to come across and have a vaccination.”
At least, on a positive note, Government figures for Rushcliffe indicate an impressive vaccine take-up of 88.3% of adults who’ve now had their first dose and 69.3% who’ve had both, which is above the national average.
You can read MORE about ‘Freedom Day’ in Ruddington >>HERE<<.
