Editorial:

The Governments messages settled down yesterday as the key principles and intent of the measures became clearer.

• With the R factor (the number of people each infected person goes on to infect) being now below 1 across the country, the uncontrolled growth of cases has stopped. The NHS now has the capacity to cope with Covid-19.
• We must get the country back to work and children back to school.
• We must put measures in place to minimise the spread, knowing it can't yet be eliminated.
• Face coverings and extreme social distancing are critical to minimising the spread.
• The clinically vulnerable are at greatest risk and still need to be shielded.
• We simply don't have enough information yet to know whether being infected will give you immunity in future.
• Even if you are immune, you may have no symptoms, but still be a reservoir of infection for others.

Sadly, the list of the clinical conditions putting someone at high risk expanded yesterday. Diabetes has been found to be an underlying health condition for 26% of Covid-19 deaths in hospital. How this was missed originally, I don't know. There is also a high underlying risk associated with obesity. Anyone with either condition needs to take extreme precautions to protect themselves.

With the virus under control national level, it is still out there everywhere. We need to take personal control and be vigilant at all times. Protect yourself and your loved ones. Walk away from any risks you encounter. Wear a face covering. See the link below on how to make one.

Masked residents fighting back against Covid-19 - #StopTheSpread

Birthdays:

None that we know of.

Nationally:

428 deaths were reported by the Government yesterday taking us to 33,186 across the UK. The number of new lab confirmed cases was still over 3,400.

Locally:

In Northamptonshire another 19 cases were reported yesterday with the specimen dates being spread back over the last few days. This is the biggest daily increase for while, taking us to 1,199 confirmed cases in the County. We are still relatively fortunate in this County at the moment. Out infection rates appear to be 1/3 of that of the North East.

3 new infections were reported in East Northamptonshire yesterday. But notice the big jump in Northampton!

Local Authority	Cases	per 100,000 population	Daily increase
Bedford	531	309.4	0
Kettering	189	186.6	1
Northampton	401	178.1	9
East Northamptonshire	159	169.3	3
Wellingborough	125	157.3	5
Corby	102	144.0	0

Daily links (all verified):

Daily Podcast	http://covid-19.chelveston.org.uk/daily-briefings/20200515
Daily newsletter	http://covid-19.chelveston.org.uk/daily-newsletter
Pause for thought	http://church.chelveston.org.uk/pause-for-thought/20200515

Parish History	https://www.chelveston-pc.gov.uk/history.html
Puzzle Library	http://covid-19.chelveston.org.uk/puzzle-library/
Making masks from socks	https://www.facebook.com/742804135/posts/10158427135669136/ (click not now when it asks you to sign up to FaceBook)

Advice on breathing with Covid-19 Symptoms	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwLzAdriec0
Vulnerable Household registration	https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus-extremely-vulnerable
Northamptonshire County Council Support Line	Call 0300 126 1000 and select Option 5 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm)
Longhurst Housing Association Support Line	Call 0300 123 1745
Village support line	Call 07850 570007 in the first instance and I’ll find you help
ASDA Volunteer Card	http://asda.com/volunteercard
Pharmacy2U	https://www.pharmacy2u.co.uk
Covid-19 Symptom Tracker	https://covid.joinzoe.com/
Live UK Covid-19 Tracker (Public Health England)	https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/
Parish Council Walking Leaflet	https://www.chelveston-pc.gov.uk/uploads/walk-leaflet.pdf

And finally . . .

Stay Alert, Control the Virus, Save Lives