Category: News Item

People across disciplines are invited to take part in a series of hackathons to crunch data to gain new insights into the impact of COVID-19.

The NERC COVID-19 Digital Sprint will take place over June, and organisers are calling on environmental researchers, health and social scientists, and data specialists to join the challenge.

Entrants will work together or individually to draw from key NERC digital assets and datasets to consider the environmental impacts and consequences of COVID-19 and create a wealth of open, digital, environmental solutions to the pandemic.

Awards of up to £3000 are available to teams and individuals for the solutions that best help us understand and address COVID-19 impact.

Professor Sir Duncan Wingham, Executive Chair of NERC, said: “COVID-19 a critical public health crisis with far reaching consequences. It is vital that we assess how environmental science can play a part in supporting our response. The Digital Sprint will explore the full range of environmental and other data available to us, and see how we can gain new insights into the impact of the virus. We hope teams from across many disciplines and sectors will take part and help in the fight against this disease.”

The NERC Digital Champions at Cranfield are running three successive virtual hackathons, each over one week and each with a different focus as well as an open ‘Kaggle’ challenge event over four weeks.

The Digital Sprint will address the environmental impacts and consequence of COVID-19 and overall will consider two focal areas:

(i) Using the environment to generate a better understanding of the interplay between the environment and the epidemiological and health related aspects of the COVID-19 epidemic, and, 

(ii) Understanding how the effects of such large-scale manipulation of the planet, cessation of travel, new consumption behaviours etc. relate to tackling the crisis. NERC national capability and research funding can be deployed to seize this.

The topics for the hackathons are: Air Quality, asking if there is a correlation between air quality and incidence and severity of the virus; Recovery, what is the impact of the lockdown; Ecosystem Services, how changes in the natural environment will impact on public health; and the Kaggle will investigate the best way to communicate the data gathered.

To take part in the NERC COVID-19 Digital Sprint, visit: https://digitalenvironment.org/home/covid-19-digital-sprint-hackathons/

In responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, Councils have undertaken significant work in protecting the health of the public by ensuring social distancing while shopping for essential goods and in protecting employees. One of the key changes in the way they deliver services has been the implementation of new powers to ensure that those businesses which are permitted to open have appropriate social distancing measures in place and to ensure that other businesses remain closed.

Since 26 March, 1,862 enquiries or complaints about businesses have been received and resolved by Councils. 8,686 proactive calls or visits have been made to businesses. Compliance by business has been high although during this period 4 Prohibition Notices have been served under the Health Protection Regulations. 126 warnings for non-compliance with the Health Protection Regulations have been issued.

Local authorities are also working closely with the Scottish Government to progress policy and guidance for businesses to restart, while establishing joint working arrangements with Police Scotland, Food Standards Scotland and the Health and Safety Executive. It is likely that workloads will increase significantly when there is an easing of lockdown, where local authorities will require to support and regulate businesses to ensure they have appropriate social distancing measures in place and to provide assurances to employees and the public.

COSLA Spokesperson for Community Wellbeing Councillor Kelly Parry, said:

“Ensuring the health of the public and employees while supporting businesses throughout this crisis is crucial and COSLA welcomes the heroic effort of Environmental Health and Trading Standards officers in their response to an ever-changing situation.

“Local Government is playing a key role in protecting public health and supporting business, and close collaboration with the Scottish Government and key partners will be essential as businesses gradually reopen.”

Brian Lawrie, Vice-Chair of the Society of Chief Environmental Health Officers of Scotland said:

“This indicates the responsiveness and the collaborative working arrangements of Scottish local authorities which has enabled them to take on new powers in response to the pandemic. We applaud the local Environmental Health and Trading Standards services for their tremendous efforts to support businesses, their communities and the progress in the work needed to ensure the control of the spread of this virus. It is clear that our policy of Explain, Engage, Encourage and Enforce policy has been effective and would urge businesses to continue to engage with their local services for advice and support as we restart our local economies.

“Over the next weeks and months this work will continue as local authorities support businesses who wish to restart. We trust this will provide confidence to employees and our communities that all businesses that open will do so safely.”

Source: COSLA

Some waste and recycling collection services across Scotland are temporarily disrupted as a result of the coronavirus. This is necessary to prioritise the health of workers in line with government guidance and deal with the impact of staff shortages.

Local authorities are working hard to make sure any disruption isn’t in place any longer than it needs to be. To help householders and businesses manage their waste in the meantime, Zero Waste Scotland, SEPA, COSLA and the Scottish Government have launched a campaign to raise awareness of changes to local waste collections, providing guidance and directing people to up-date-information.

The new website – managingourwaste.scot – will give householders and businesses updates and guidance on how to manage waste. Local authority websites will continue to provide the latest updates on local service changes.

Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said:

“Refuse collectors are working in exceptional conditions to maintain as many essential services as they can. Now is a good time to avoid wasting so much as this is ultimately the best way to help councils cope.

“Zero Waste Scotland is working with key partners to communicate changes to householders and businesses in Scotland in the meantime. We’d encourage everyone to visit the campaign website to find out how they can best manage their waste.”

Environment and Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said:

“We owe a massive thank you to all those in the waste industry who are working hard to keep services running in challenging circumstances. While they do their best for us it’s vitally important that we do what we can to help them by following the advice on properly dealing with and reducing waste.

“The new campaign website offers lots of safe ways to help people avoid waste and protect the environment. This includes instructions on safe disposal of certain items and on keeping large items at home until recycling centres open because fly-tipping is not acceptable.

“We all have to make necessary changes to help limit the spread of the virus. By following this advice, we can help those who are working hard to keep our services running.”

Terry A’Hearn, chief executive of SEPA, said:

“Now more than ever, we need to recognise the responsibility we have for the waste we produce, store, transport and dispose of. We all have a role to play in managing our waste during this period.

“At SEPA, we are supporting vital waste services by helping businesses to adapt. We have published guidance to help those who are struggling, as well as temporary regulatory guidance specifically for waste management.

“Equally, we will be uncompromising towards those that choose to deliberately do the wrong thing. Remember, services that sound too good to be true often are, and could lead to illegal fly-tipping, burning or illegal disposal.

“We all have a legal responsibility to ensure that only licensed professionals handle our waste. SEPA maintains an online register of licensed waste carriers and brokers enabling the public or businesses to check and ensure that contractors are sufficiently compliant.”

Councillor Steven Heddle, COSLA Environment and Economy spokesperson, said:

“Local authority staff are doing an amazing job keeping waste services running at this very difficult time. Many of us will have seen changes to our waste collections in the last few weeks and further changes may be needed in the weeks to come. This campaign shows how individuals and communities can help Local Authorities by reducing the amount of waste created. This is the right thing to do now but it will also help the environment in the longer term once we return to more normal lives”

Everyone can take action to reduce the pressure on essential services and manage their waste. Zero Waste Scotland has issued the following guidance for householders:

• Wash and squash: Washing means there is less contamination in your bin and squashing your recyclables leaves room for more. Fill up existing bins with as much waste as you can.
• Try home composting: Vegetable and fruit peelings, eggs shells, tea leaves and coffee grounds can go in a standard compost bin and create a natural fertiliser for plants.
• Keep items at home until recycling centres reopen: Now is not the time to try and get rid of large items following a spring clean. Clearing up after flytippers ultimately costs the taxpayer, leaving less funding for essential services. Report flytipping via the Dumb Dumpers form on the Zero Waste Scotland website or reporting directly to the council.

Anyone with symptoms of Covid-19 should follow government advice on securely storing personal waste to help keep themselves and waste management workers safe. This means placing items such as used tissues in a disposable rubbish bag which should be placed in another bag, tied securely, kept separate from other waste and put aside for at least 72 hours before it is put out for collection.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a warning of an increased legionella risk if a building has been closed or reduced occupancy during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This is because water systems can stagnant due to lack of use, increasing the risk of Legionnaires’ disease. This may particularly affect:

• Hot and cold water systems
• Cooling towers and evaporative condensers
• Commercial spa pools and hot tubs

Employers, the self-employed and people in control of premises, such as landlords, have a duty to identify and control risks associated with legionella. 

They should review your risk assessment and manage the legionella risks to protect people when the water system is reinstated or returned to use. 

If the water system is still used regularly, maintain the appropriate measures to prevent legionella growth.

You can find out what Legionnaires’ disease is, where it comes from, how people get it and symptoms and treatment by reading HSE guidance- What is Legionnaires' disease?.

As we move into the next phase of the Scottish Government COVID-19 response, a "test, trace, isolate, support" approach will be introduced. Read the Scottish Government’s Coronavirus (COVID-19): test, trace, isolate, support strategy.

As NHS Scotland moves to implementation of this strategy, current contact tracing capacity will be enhanced to deliver a sustainable service across Scotland.  

The COVID-19 tracing team needs additional suitably qualified and experienced staff.  Posts including contact tracing call handlers, contact tracing call supervisors and data analysts are now open to applications up until May 22.

In relation to registrations made Environmental Health Officer's or others with suitably experiences, in the drop down boxes on the registration form, the "PHS Tracing Team" options should be selected for "sector", "professional group" and "which profession are you primarily interested in", and the "Public Health" option should be selected for the "what primary area of speciality that you have experience in would you like to be able to help with."

Further information and registration of interest can be made at the following website.  

The UK Government, in consultation with industry, have published guidance to help employers, employees and the self-employed understand how to work safely during the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest guidance covers eight workplace settings:

• construction and other outdoor work
• factories, plants and warehouses
• other people's homes
• labs and research facilities
• offices and contact centres
• restaurants offering takeaway or delivery
• shops and branches
• vehicles

For the latest guidance see here.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a report on the public health risk posed by Listeria monocytogenes in frozen fruit and vegetables that have been blanched during processing. Blanching before freezing is often carried out by food business operators to prevent enzyme actions which can cause loss of flavour, colour and texture.

The EFSA identifies relevant control activities that food business operators can implement to lower the risks of contamination in frozen vegetables. These range from the cleaning and disinfection of the food producing environment, to water, time and temperature control at different processing steps, and accurate labelling. The report concludes that the risks associated with the consumption of these products is lower than for ready-to-eat foods such as smoked fish, cooked meat, sausages, pâté and soft cheese, which are more often associated with Listeria contamination.

The EFSA also makes recommendations on how to reduce risks at home, including maintaining good hygiene practices such as storing frozen or thawed vegetables in a clean freezer or refrigerator at the appropriate temperature and following the instructions on labelling for safe preparation. In general, risks are much lower if vegetables are cooked properly after defrosting.

This work was triggered by a multi-country outbreak that affected 53 people and caused 10 deaths between 2015 and 2018.

Health Protection Scotland has produced guidance to support those working in non-healthcare settings give advice to their staff and users of their services about COVID-19.

This guidance covers:

• what COVID-19 is and how it is spread
• advice on how to prevent spread of all respiratory infections including COVID-19
• advice on what to do if someone is ill in a work​​place or other non-healthcare setting
• advice on what will happen if an individual is being investigated as a possible case or is confirmed as a case of COVID-19

Where relevant, additional setting-specific information and advice is also included in, or is linked to from, this guidance. ​

The guidance is regularly updated and can be accessed here.

The Scottish Government has published a paper outlining their “test, trace, isolate, support” strategy for COVID-19, within which the Environmental Health profession plays a key role. It is expected to be in place end of May.

The strategy is part of a range public health measures to be deployed to ensure low levels of community transmission of the disease while easing lockdown. The strategy follows the Scottish Government’s COVID-19: A Framework for Decision-Making which sets out the steps required for a managed transition out of lockdown. 

The “test, trace, isolate, support” approach is a well-established public health intervention, designed to help us interrupt chains of community transmission by identifying cases of COVID-19, tracing the people who may have become infected by being in close contact with them, and then supporting those close contacts to self-isolate, so that if they have the disease, they are less likely transmit to it to others.

In order for this approach to work, the levels of disease need to be sufficiently low and stay low. 

Work is continuing to increase the capacity for coronavirus testing, with the paper estimating the need to provide sufficient tests for around 2% of the population and will therefore need to be able to deliver up to 15,500 tests per day when ‘test, trace, isolate, support’ is fully rolled out.

For contract tracing services, NHS boards are leading collaborative work with environmental health included to put in place local teams, that will be supported nationally for COVID-19 contact tracing. The local teams will require around 2,000 additional staff to increase capacity to respond. This is a skilled job and through their discussions with cases and contacts they must conduct careful risk assessment and provide active support. Environmental Health Officers (EHO) already have wide experience in contact tracing and the paper states EHO’s as already been drafted in for this work. 

Digital infrastructure that already exists for this type of work for other infections with Public Health Scotland is also being improved so that is can be delivered as efficiently as possible. 

In addition to the digital platform being developed, the UK government is also leading the development of a proximity-tracing app which people could download to their smartphones, which is being trialled on the Isle of Wight. This app uses Bluetooth technology to identify close contacts among other app users, and may be particularly useful for identifying people who have been in close physical proximity but who are unknown, such as a stranger on public transport. This app however will not replace the need for the contact tracing detailed above but will be used as an important enhancement.  

It will be important that everyone living in Scotland understands the symptoms to look out for in themselves and their household, and what to do if they do get those symptoms. It will also require us all to be ready to self-isolate on each occasion someone we have been in close contact with is diagnosed, in order to protect the people, we would otherwise have come into contact with. 

The strategy will not be effective on its own and it must be used alongside other public health measures to reduce transmission, such as physical distancing, good hand and respiratory hygiene, including appropriate use of face coverings, and disease surveillance. 

Food Standards Scotland has published guidance intended for Food Businesses in the Take Away Sector. This guidance is aimed to supplement the current published Covid-19 guidance for Food Business Operators and their Employees. 

Scottish Government requirements to close restaurants, cafes and public houses to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has led many of these businesses to offer new take-away or delivery services to their customers. The closure of many catering businesses has also resulted in increased demand for existing take-away businesses.  

In recognition of the challenges faced by small businesses in the food take-away sector Food Standards Scotland have produced a practical guide to help them communicate consistently to their customers. The guidance is structured across eight key areas aimed at providing simple and easily understood key messages for a sector that is composed of many very small businesses. In addition, the guidance is supplemented with model posters that businesses can use to display on their premises. The model posters will allow a common approach to be adopted to protect consumers using their service and the business staff.

The guidance developed by FSS in partnership with the Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee and it has been shared with industry representatives, Scottish Government and Ministers who have welcomed the guide.

Through social media and the website, members will have read that the work of the Institute is continuing, with progress on the education and qualification route to being an EHO, flexible training opportunities in relation to the various Community Training courses, regular meetings continuing by virtual means and responses to questions and queries being made.

In Scotland, the response to COVID-19 is being led by the Scottish Government and Public Health teams across the country. The significant differences in population, social habits and environment across Scotland mean that a locally led response is the right way to go.

The Institute and its Council members have been engaged with Scottish Government representatives on numerous occasions over the years and have fully participated in Scotland’s Public Health Reform programme, always promoting the role of Environmental Health, leading to the profession being firmly in the minds of senior Scottish Government representatives and NHS Scotland Directors of Public Health.

Environmental Health Officers are core public health professionals and Local Authority Environmental Health Services across Scotland are fully engaged with Public Health Teams, through the excellent networks in place, not least through the Society of Chief Officers of Environmental Health in Scotland, the very successful Scottish Health Protection Networks and the various regional networks which regularly meet in normal times. These established networks have proved invaluable in the current pandemic and are allowing for a coordinated response to COVID-19 across Scotland.

The skills and expertise of EHOs are currently being utilised in these networks on a daily basis, with contributions being made shown in the REHIS e-newsletter.

The Institute offers its support in any way it can, in relation to the response to COVID-19 and would lead on any work necessary to identify additional EHOs who may be required to support the work of the current local authority environmental health teams, particularly as the nation progresses to a contact tracing situation.

With many members of the Council working as EHOs within LA sector, the Institute’s support and assistance can be based on local knowledge and intelligence.

Should individuals be able and wish to volunteer to assist the national response, the website readyscotland.org gives this opportunity and your time can be put to the place of most need in your local area.

Tuesday 28 April marks International Workers’ Memorial Day (#IWMD20) which is commemorated around the world.

The day marks to remember those who have lost their lives at work, or from work-related injury and diseases. 

The theme for 2020 is coronavirus. The coronavirus pandemic affects every worker regardless of sector or locality. Tens of thousands of workers worldwide have died. More have fallen ill or continue to go to work risking their lives. Many workers are still attending work ill-equipped and without necessary safety measures in place.

Trade Unions across the UK are asking the country to observe a minute’s silence at 11am on 28 April, to remember all the health, care and other key workers who have already lost their lives to COVID-19.

It will be a moment to pay tribute to the sacrifice made of so many workers during the pandemic, to remember those who've sadly lost their lives, and to thank all those who continue to do vital work at great risk.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon earlier confirmed the Scottish Government will join in the minute’s silence at 11am on Tuesday.

She said: “The silence will provide an opportunity to pay tribute to those who have died as a result of their work to serve, care for and save others, and it will be a further reminder that of all the duties Government bears during a situation like this, the most vital is our obligation to keep care and health workers safe.

“I and the Scottish Government are acutely aware of that responsibility and will work each and every day to do everything we can to fulfil that obligation.”