Ealing Covid-19 Latest Round-Up
Information provided by Eric Leach from The Neighbours' Paper
14 April 2020
It’s Day 22 of the lockdown. No promised Government review yesterday. Apparently though we are going to hear on 16 April 2020 that the lockdown will run till at least 7 May 2020. I have seen Police stopping folks sunbathing or just sitting on the grass in Dean Gardens and Elthorne Park. The threat to make the lockdown more severe has as yet not materialised.
Major Concerns About the 1,700+ Residents and Staff at Ealing 49 Care/Nursing Homes
On 13 April 2020 the Government stated that 13.5% of care homes in Britain are infected with Covid-19. Statistically that equates to 6 care/nursing homes in Ealing. However, although many of Ealing’s care homes are small, eleven of them house 50 or more almost exclusively elderly patients. The industry body Care England estimated on 9 April 2020 that the Covid-19 death toll in UK care/nursing homes was close to 1,000. Recent press reports cite 13 deaths in a Yorkshire care home, 13 in an Essex home and 15 in one in Luton. It’s clear that the Government’s first deliveries of protective equipment were to NHS Hospital Trusts – and not to care homes and nursing homes, most of which are privately owned.
Ealing Council Has placed Over 70 Rough Sleepers into Hotels and Hostels
If you are aware of anyone sleeping in our streets call:
Streetlink:
0300 500 0914
Ealing Council Closes all Council Park’s Car Parks
Well....some of them at least. Dean Gardens car park is still open. Surely this isn’t because those implementing the imminent Live-West-Ealing £1.4 million transformation of the gardens will need somewhere to park their trucks, vans and cars?
Useful Ealing Covid-19 Web site
Ealing Liberal Democrats have created a really useful and wide-ranging information source.
Covid-19 Information for Ealing Businesses
www.makeitealing/covid-19-impact-your-business
Ealing Council Planning Says It’s ‘Near Business As Usual’
How can this be? Unbelievably Planning Notices are still being displayed on lampposts. Is it really essential work for someone to travel round the borough putting up these notices? And with Covid-19 lockdown just how many residents will view these notifications of proposals for loft extensions or 30 storey residential towers?
Lots of Residents Question Why Kew Gardens and Osterley Park Have Closed
Over 100 acres could be made available for residents to take their pedestrian exercise.
Why Can’t Ealing Golf Club Fairways Be Open to Residents for Exercise?
There are five golf clubs in Ealing. All are currently closed to members for playing golf. However no doubt the green keepers are still at work making sure the greens will be playable after the lockdown ceases. At these clubs there are over 100 acres of Fairways which could be used by local residents for their daily pedestrian exercise. Let’s hope that some of these Fairways have already been opened up.
Why are Some Large Building Sites Still Operating?
There are workers today in the A2Dominion/Rydon Green Man Lane building site in West Ealing. This week someone (presumably paid to do it) painted over the graffiti on the wall surrounding this building site on Felix Road. Are either of these activities essential during the Covid-19 lockdown?
What is Happening at Ealing Hospital?
Difficult to figure this one out. Visitors can’t enter the hospital and staff have been threatened with all sorts if they talk to the press or to local activists. What we do know is that surgery no longer takes place at the hospital. We hear that the operating theatres have been re-purposed for Covid-19 Intensive Care use. We also know that the original seven Covid-19 Intensive Care beds have now been increased to 19.
Why Can’t Ealing Hotels Re-Open to House Domestic Violence Victims?
Refuge, the largest national charity supporting domestic violence victims, is reporting a 700% increase in calls to its help line. Last week Home Secretary Priti Patel MP promised assistance for anyone at risk of domestic violence. Southall Black Sisters (SBS), a 40 year old women’s human rights specialist, has written to hotel chains asking them to help provide sanctuary for domestic violence victims. However hotel chains say they need Government money to underwrite the costs of re-opening rooms and providing meals. Why doesn’t Ealing Council bring together SBS, the Home Office and Ealing’s major hotels to enable this sanctuary service?
National Domestic Abuse Helpline:
0808 2000 247
Covid-19 Lockdown Classical Music Concerts Streamed From the 12th Century St Mary’s Perivale
Every day at 4pm soloists, duos, trios and quartets will perform music including works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Rachmaninov. Access the concerts at:
Wembley IKEA Covid-19 Test Centre Refuses to Test Concerned Ealing Mental Health Worker
Oluwatoyin Adeoye went to the IKEA site in Wembley where Covid-19 testing for NHS staff was taking place. However he was turned away because he had not made an appointment using email.
(Daily Mail 3 April 2020)
Public Health England (PBE) States 730 Covid-19 Cases in Ealing – But it’s Probably Many More Than This
This figure was a snapshot released by PBE at 5pm 13 May 2020 and was validated by NHS England and NHS Improvement. The figure covers just hospital cases. It does not include Covid-19 cases in Ealing’s nursing homes and care homes, those diagnosed but isolated at home, and those suffering at home but undiagnosed. As for the number of Covid-19 deaths in Ealing no-one seemingly has a clue.
The Only Mental Health Hospital Ward in Ealing Seemingly No Longer Exists
Rumours exist that Ealing’s only mental health hospital ward at St Bernard’s Hospital has closed. All Google attempts to find the existence of Hope Ward, Wolsey Wing on the West London NHS Trust (WLNT) site lead to dead ends. Recent reports on Hope/Wolsey mention no supporting staff to talk to and filthy rooms. Is there any link here to re-purposing the facility for Covid-19 use? No WLNT announcements about any of this.
Why Might There Be So Many Covid-19 Deaths at Northwick Park and Ealing Hospitals?
The 237 Covid-19 deaths at the four LNWH hospitals probably all occurred at the large Northwick Park major hospital and the slowly declining Ealing major hospital. (LNWH is the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust). Northwick Park in Harrow was one of the first NHS major hospitals to be singled out for Covid-19 specialisation. Non-Covid-19 patients were quickly off loaded to Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals.
There have been proportionally more serious Covid-19 cases amongst the Black, Asian and minority Ethnic – BAME - (non-white) members of our population than white members. The Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre has found that out of 2,000 critically ill Covid-19 patients 35% of them were non-white. (In fact 14% of the most critically ill were Asian). At 35% this is nearly triple the 13% non-white UK population as a whole. Harrow has an estimated South Asian population of over 58,000 – 27% of the borough’s population. Southall has one of the biggest concentrations of South Asians outside India. Ealing Hospital is situated in Southall.
Diabetes can increase the risk of contracting Covid-19. Harrow has the second highest prevalence of Diabetes in the UK. Its 9.58% compares with the UK average of 6.8%. The neighbouring borough of Brent is not much better – coming in at 6th worst at 8.91%.
Eric Leach
April 14, 2020