Step Up For Hounslow! 

Here is some new information for you to share please, as part of our ‘Step Up For Hounslow!’ campaign. 

• Hounslow Council’s Leader, Cllr Steve Curran, made a statement in response to the Government’s announcement yesterday [14 June] to extend the roadmap by four weeks. You can read it here: 

https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/news/article/2370/government_extends_lockdown_by_four_weeks_-_statement_from_cllr_steve_curran  

• Efforts to vaccinate as many people in the borough as possible continue. Between 10-13 June alone, nearly 6,000 people were vaccinated at our pop-up vaccination sites. 
• Enhanced Self-Isolation Payments are now available for eligible Hounslow residents who have had to self-isolate during Surge. For more information visit: Test and Trace - Self Isolation Payment | Test and Trace - Self Isolation Payment | London Borough of Hounslow 
• It is important residents remember to return their completed PCR test to us as soon as possible. Details of where to drop-off PCR test kits can be found via: www.hounslow.gov.uk/surge   
• The sooner you get PCR tested and vaccinated the less likely you will be to miss the opportunity to benefit from the increased resource in the borough. Apply here
• Testing is not a one-off, it is important that residents regularly get tested with LFT ‘rapid tests’ going forward, even those residents who have been vaccinated.   

Step Up For Hounslow!  

Surge testing and increased vaccination continues in Hounslow to help tackle a new COVID-19 variant of concern. We need everyone to play their part and to get PCR tested as soon as possible and to get vaccinated when they can. Here is some new information for you to share please. 

• Residents are stepping up to get PCR tested.  1,982 PCR tests were completed on Tuesday 25 May.
• We are continuing to door-knock in the Hounslow West area of the borough today [staff are carrying appropriate I.D], delivering PCR tests and leaving letters with information and details of support for anyone who is not at home. 
• Today [Thursday 27 May], we’re launching the first of several new ‘Pop-up' vaccination clinics — please see table far below for more details.  
• Hounslow Council Leader, Cllr Steve Curran and Director of Public Health, Kelly O'Neill, have issued a joint statement this afternoon on clarification of Government Travel guidance. They said: “We are delighted for the sake of residents and businesses that the Government has clarified their travel guidance after calls from all eight areas designated for surge testing and vaccination, who recognised the issues and worked together to ensure common sense prevailed. Confusion caused by changes in the guidance last Friday brought great inconvenience, worry and concern to many Hounslow residents and businesses, and on top of this, it distracted Council staff and NHS colleagues from the delivery of the surge testing and vaccination programme which is our top priority. We encourage every resident in Hounslow and London to be tested and vaccinated as soon as possible. This is the only way we will beat the virus.”   
• Our ‘Step Up For Hounslow!’ multi-channel Communications and Engagement activity is helping to spread the word. For example, images of the campaign have been featured on the BBC, in the Guardian as well as on ITV. We generated more than a million impressions of our content on Twitter, increasing our number of followers five-fold.   
• Surge Testing and Vaccinations activity will continue for approximately five weeks. 
• For more information, visit: www.hounslow.gov.uk/surge which we are updating regularly as details are confirmed. 
• Follow us at: LBofHounslow (Twitter) and London Borough of Hounslow (Facebook). 
• You can also keep in touch via our e-newsletter: sign up to our Covid-19 enewsletter 
• For now, please remember to follow the basics including ‘Hands, Face, Space and Fresh Air’.  

Residents of Heston, Cranford and surrounding areas in Hounslow can walk in and get their first dose of the vaccine at a drop-in clinic at Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Alice Way on Wednesday 19 May — even if they have not got an appointment.

Vaccinators will include Panjabi-speaking health professionals, and translations will be made available.

Date: Wednesday, 19 May

Time: 11:30 -16:00

Venue: Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Alice Way, Hounslow TW3 3UA.

There is no need to book an appointment; the walk-in service is available to everyone over the age of 40 or younger if the guidance changes before the clinic.

Residents are also eligible if they fall under the following categories:

• At a high risk from COVID-19 (clinically extremely vulnerable)
• Have a condition that puts you at higher risk (clinically vulnerable)
• Have a learning disability
• Are an eligible frontline health or social care worker
• Get a Carer’s Allowance, get support following an assessment by your local authority or your GP record shows you are a carer.

It would be helpful if attendees can bring identification or a NHS number, but this is not a requirement.

There is evidence of a COVID-19 case in your area with the variant of concern first identified in South Africa. There is no immediate cause for serious concern. As a precaution, residents over 16 living in and around the Isleworth Train Station area should get a PCR test by Friday 14 May even if they are symptom free. If you have not received a home testing kit, please visit Hounslow Council’s Mobile Testing Unit at Isleworth Train Station or at Tesco, Osterley. Support is available from the Council. Call: 0207 084 9697 or www.hounslow.gov.uk/surge-testing

Please put your request for leave, in writing or by email to info@hestoncs.org, for Eid Celebrations, with child's full name & tutor group by Tue 11 May.