Lincolnshire has just three cases of Covid-19 being treated in its hospitals, according to the county's Clinical Commissioning Group.

The figure comes in a report prepared for its June board meeting this Wednesday from Clair Raybould – Director of Operations.

Clair's report says the number of Covid cases is increasing due to the Delta (Indian) variant, which has seen a "steady increase across the Country, region and

locally to CCG." This variant is responsible for about a third of new cases, but due to a lag in reporting its share is likely to be higher now. The report noted the delay to lockdown easing being delayed from June 21 to July 19 due to concerns over rising cases numbers and a higher R rate. Clair said: "The Secretary of State for Health remains confident the case numbers are slowing and has shared an ambition for all major legal restrictions to be lifted by 09 August. Currently and due to vaccinations, (ONS data states 80% of all adults in England have received their first vaccination); the increase is not translating into an increase in hospital admissions for COVID positive patients in the County." Her report continued: "At 22 June, there were 3 patients in our hospital beds in Lincolnshire, across all providers. 2 patients are receiving care from (United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust) ULHT, 1 from LCHS _Lincolnshire Community Health Services). Nationally, ONS data suggests COVID deaths are at their lowest rates since the beginning of September 2020. There have been 0 deaths in Lincolnshire since 03 June." Clair's report also notes the UK Government will establish an independent public inquiry into the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is anticipated to start during Spring 2022. However, she says preparatory will will begin before then and the CCG and the NHS as a whole "will be required to undertake a resource intensive piece of work to ensure all documentation relating to decisions made during the COVID response is saved and stored in the event the information is called for as part of the inquiry. Full details are expected during the coming months." Her report continued: "Treating so many COVID patients over the past year, along with additional safety measures, has inevitably had a knock-on effect on non-emergency care, but with threat of the pandemic on

emergency admissions now receding, thanks in large part to the extraordinary success of the vaccination programme, our mission now is to rapidly recover routine services."

She continued: "The Board are aware that the recovery of services remains an immediate and high priority for us collectively across the system, we are working on a number of key areas as part of our restore and

recovery programme." "Restoration of planned care activity remains on track and in some areas has exceeded the plan the system submitted to NHSEI (NHS England and Improvement) for the first 6 months of the year. "Within ULHT all theatre estate is now back online with Grantham hospital theatre capacity exceeding what was available preCOVID. In addition to this we are maintaining ongoing clinical review of all patients who have been on the waiting list for over three months to monitor priority status and to identify any deterioration." Clair's report added: "The green site at Grantham final restoration elements described last month are on track and the A&E and medical beds are due to be open by the end of June." The report and other details will be presented at the NHS Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) board meeting on Wednesday June 30 at 9.30am. The meeting will be held virtually aa a live event, as in previous months, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which members of the public can join virtually. Sean Lyons, Chair, Lincolnshire CCG, explained: "Like everyone else, we continue to be conscious of our responsibility to follow, and indeed promote, the government's guidance in response to coronavirus, especially where social distancing is concerned. "At the same time the CCG remains fully committed to fulfilling its role of commissioning healthcare on behalf of the Lincolnshire public, and it is important we hold our Board meeting, even though we cannot hold it in public as we would like." He continued: "However, we are pleased to be able to confirm that members of the public will be able to virtually join the meeting using Microsoft Teams. This will mean that, just like a normal Board meeting, the public will be able to observe the proceedings of the Board, the only difference being that none of us can be there in person. We don't underestimate the importance of engaging with the public, and we know it's not ideal, but at least this way the public can still watch the Board meeting and listen to its discussions." Joining instructions for the meeting will be available from the CCG's website Virtual Board meeting: 30 June 2021 @9.30am – Lincolnshire CCG as well as the papers for the Board meeting. Members of the public can submit questions in one of two ways - either during the Board meeting using the Q&A function of Microsoft Teams, or by completing the proforma available with the meeting papers and emailing it to [email protected] by 5pm on Tuesday 29 June. Questions will be collated and responded to after the Board meeting. Led by local GPs and other health professionals, NHS Lincolnshire CCG is responsible for the planning and purchasing of health services across the county, including planned and emergency hospital care, rehabilitation, most community services, and mental health and learning disability services. For more information on the CCG, including access to Board papers, visit www.lincolnshireccg.nhs.uk