Day: 23 September 2020

Test and Trace News From Dorset Council

Tomorrow, 24 September, the Government is launching a new Test and Trace app to help prevent further spread of the COVID-19 virus.

We are lucky to still have a relatively low infection rate here in Dorset and the app will help this trend continue. Everyone who downloads the app is helping to prevent the spread of the virus by notifying users if they have come into contact with someone who may later test positive for coronavirus.

From tomorrow you will be able to go to your usual app store on your smartphone and download the app – search for NHS COVID-19. Some features of the app include risk alerts by postcode, a symptom checker and test booking.  Please be assured that the app tracks the virus, not the individual.

It is also now mandatory for some businesses and organisations to have a system in place to collect visitor data and keep it for 21 days. The Council have contacted Dorset’s businesses, their town and parish councils and their own local council services about this new legal requirement and have asked them to display NHS QR code posters in their properties ahead of the app launch tomorrow.

The venues affected include those in the following sectors:
• hospitality
• leisure and tourism
• close contact services (such as salons)
• places of worship
• local authority venues (such as Libraries, Registration Offices, Leisure Centres and Town and Village Halls)
From tomorrow we should start seeing these businesses with the NHS QR posters in their venues for customers and users to check-in with the new NHS COVID-app at that location.

If we all download and start using the app, we will be doing our bit to keep each other safe and stop infection rates in Dorset rising.

For more information on how to download and use the app – click HERE.

What if you don’t have a smartphone? Don’t worry if you don’t have a smartphone, businesses may continue to collect customers’ data using a log book or other paper method.

For all questions about the app please click HERE.

#Broadwindsor,#Dorset,#Coronavirus,#Covid-19,#TestAndTrace,#SocialDistancing,#App,#BeKind,#StaySafe

It’s OK Not To Be OK

Suicide figures have increased by 200% since the start of the Covid-19 lockdown six months ago. This pandemic has brought unexpected change and uncertainty and will have a lasting impact on everyone’s mental health and wellbeing.  The Samaritans are a registered charity in England and Wales (219432) and in Scotland (SC040604).
The Samaritans are there to listen, no judgement, no pressure, and help you work through what’s on your mind. They never tell you what to do.  Their services are free and confidential.

You can call: 116 123 Any hour of the day. Any day of the year. Anytime.

The charity surveyed almost 2,000 men aged 20 to 59 to find out how the pandemic restrictions have affected their mental health and support networks. 42% of the men questioned felt that the restrictions have had a negative impact on their mental health, with loneliness and/or isolation, anxiety, financial worries and separation from loved ones among their concerns.

Depression and AnxietyDue to the impact of the coronavirus, callers are experiencing longer wait times so they have provided a list of resources with a range of different organisations HERE covering the extensive list of categories below:

  • Addiction
  • Benefits & Rights
  • Bereavement
  • Carers
  • Children and Young People
  • Counselling
  • Crisis Pregnancy
  • Debt, Poverty and Social Exclusion
  • Eating Disorders
  • Emotional Text Support
  • Health
  • Housing and Homelessness
  • Loneliness and Isolation
  • Mental Health
  • Military
  • NHS (Staff only)
  • Older People
  • Relationships
  • Sexuality
  • Sexual Abuse (Abused)
  • Sexual Abuse (Abuser)
  • Victims Of Crime

If you need help with any of these things – get further information from the Samaritans HERE.

Can You Help? Find out more about becoming a volunteer for the Samaritans HERE. Then register your interest online and your enquiry will be sent to your chosen branch and they will be in touch.

Shout 85258Shout 85258

Launched in May 2019, Shout is a free, confidential, anonymous text support service. You can text from wherever you are in the UK.

Shout support people who are anxious, stressed, depressed, suicidal or overwhelmed and who need immediate support. As a digital service, Shout 85258 has become increasingly critical since Covid-19, being one of the few mental health support services able to operate as normal at this time.

Can You Help? Click HERE to become a volunteer for Shout.

Shout 85258 is the first service from Mental Health Innovations and is a registered charity (1175670).

Its Ok Not To Be Ok

#Broadwindsor,#Dorset,#Samaritans,#Shout85258,#MentalHealthAwareness,#Covid-19,#Coronavirus,#Desperate,#Suicide,#Abuse,#BeKind,#Volunteer, #ItsOkNotToBeOk,#StaySafe