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Coronavirus (COVID-19): Information for the public

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Symptoms

The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:

  • new continuous cough and/or
  • high temperature

For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild infection. Find out more on the NHS Coronavirus pages.

Health advice

If you have symptoms of coronavirus infection (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home and do not leave your house for 7 days from when your symptoms started. This action will help protect others in your community whilst you are infectious.

Other steps you can take include the following:

  • plan ahead and ask others for help to ensure that you can successfully stay at home.
  • ask your employer, friends and family to help you to get the things you need to stay at home.
  • stay at least 2 metres (about 3 steps) away from other people in your home whenever possible.
  • sleep alone, if that is possible.
  • wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, each time using soap and water.
  • stay away from vulnerable individuals such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions as much as possible.
  • you do not need to call NHS111 to go into self-isolation. If your symptoms worsen during home isolation or are no better after 7 days contact NHS 111 online. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111. For a medical emergency dial 999.

You can find NHS Stay at home advice here.

Andy Williams, Joint Chief Executive of the CCGs in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) said: “This is an unprecedented challenge to public health and health services. It is essential that people follow the simple advice on handwashing for example, and is aware of the symptoms and signs of coronavirus and takes appropriate action. Please make sure you are using the official information provided by the Government.

“You should stay at home if you have either a high temperature – you feel hot to touch on your chest or back or a new, continuous cough – this means you've started coughing repeatedly. Minimising social contact is something we all need to do to protect ourselves and help delay the spread of coronavirus.

“Remember, the situation is changing rapidly so please do keep up to date with the latest information.”

Local planning

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Organisations across LLR met at the end of January 2020 to begin preparing services.  The LLR Health system is currently prepared for a response to COVID 19.

Help protect us, so we can protect you – is the message from the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

With coronavirus now impacting on almost every area of life, it’s more important than ever that we are looking out for each other and the most vulnerable in our communities.

The LRF is the multi-agency partnership made up of representatives from local public services, including the emergency services, local authorities, the NHS and others. They are working together to implement the well-rehearsed plans already in place to deal with a pandemic.

Multi-agency approach

The challenge of COVID-19 is extreme; there is no vaccination, and it is a worldwide pandemic crisis, and our responders across all agencies are not immune.

With local plans in place, it’s key that you help us keep you safe too.

A multi-agency Strategic Coordinating Group, chaired by the Director of Public Health, Mike Sandys of Leicestershire County Council, are meeting regularly, and includes all the relevant partners at a senior level seeking to coordinate the complex response across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Mike Sandys said: “It’s important everyone understands how they can help to stop the spread of coronavirus and follows the Government’s advice. This means reducing the contact you have with people by working from home if you can, avoiding taking public transport and visiting social venues and minimising face-to-face contact with friends and family.

“This is an unsettling time and I want to reassure residents that councils, emergency services, the NHS and other partners are working together closely to ensure services continue to run, communities and businesses are supported and lives are saved.”

Chief Constable Simon Cole, the Chair of the LRF Executive, said: “We are all working very closely to make sure our response is joined up and we are keeping everyone across the city and two counties as safe as we can with the most up-to-date information.

“This is an unprecedented time for everyone, and we would ask that you help us – and yourself – by following all the advice from Public Health England.

“Staff and volunteers from all of the partnership agencies will be out in your communities helping keep you safe – do what you can to help keep them safe too.”

CCG response and planning

LLR CCGs have implemented command and control procedures which enables coordination of efforts from a health perspective to ensure we are protecting our patients and core services. The CCGs are also implementing an incident command cell for local coordination.

The LLR CCGs chair a system-wide Health Tactical Coordination Group meetings (HTCG) every week which have updates from each service along with Public Health England (PHE) to ensure we have the latest update to plan our response. Local authority colleagues are also represented when required on the HTCG.

CCGs are provided with a weekly webinar chaired by Professor Keith Willet, National Director for Acute Care to NHS England, who with key aides provides an overview to planning arrangements; each region/locality then adapts this information to tailor an approach for their respective areas.

NHS England and Improvement (NHSE&I) also meet via a regional incident response cell in order to monitor the situation and provide timely flow of information in order to assist local health systems in response to COVID-19.

LLR CCGs are also in close contact with the Local Resilience Forum (LRF - see above) which is coordinating a Strategic Coordination Group (SCG) with LRF partners who will provide assistance if required.

Information and guidance