People urged to ‘use good judgement’ to combat Covid as health watchdog warns of ‘slackening approach’

People should “use good judgement” to protect each other from Covid, including wearing face coverings and getting vaccinated, health experts in Hackney have said.

They gave their advice at a health and wellbeing board meeting at which the need for ongoing precautions and guidance was discussed.

It came in response to concerns from Healthwatch Hackney about the impact of Covid on older and vulnerable people who have been severely affected by the virus and are more likely to suffer serious illness.

Malcolm Alexander, who chairs the local watchdog, said he was worried that as Covid restrictions were lifted, people forgot the “danger that there is”.

He told Hackney’s health and wellbeing board that “things are becoming very lax”.

He said the government has “slackened their approach so much, they’ve more or less said people over 60 or vulnerable should follow the same guidance as everybody else”.

He believes Covid will still impact on people very severely in the future.

“Mask-wearing and keeping a distance is very important,” he added. “Things are becoming very lax and people are thinking that those precautions are no longer important as if the virus has gone forever.”

Alexander, who is a former lecturer in patient involvement in health and social care, went on: “What we do know is some older people have chosen to lock themselves away and this is having a quite severe effect on people’s mental health.”

Healthwatch submitted a series of detailed questions about the pandemic to the board, and the full responses will be published by the council.

The watchdog said it believed it was time to issue crisis guidance on protective measures to safeguard older and vulnerable residents.

Alexander said it also shared the concerns of City and Hackney Older People’s Reference Group that there was not enough data nationally about the impact on older people, such as the numbers in intensive care or suffering from long Covid.

Hackney’s director of public health Dr Sandra Husbands said: “We are keen to remind people to protect themselves and others.”

She added: “Vaccination is the single most important thing.”

According to the latest figures, 64 per cent of City and Hackney residents have been vaccinated once and 58per cent have had their second vaccine. Boosters or third vaccines have been given to 37 per cent of residents.

Husbands said: “The only way for us to get out of this pandemic is at endemic levels – whatever level that may be.”

She said this needs a global response and vaccine equity.

In Hackney, it means “keeping a lid on local transmission” to help prevent the spread of new variants.

She told the board: “The effectiveness of masks, as an anti-Covid intervention, is considerably increased as more people wear them.”

Healthwatch had asked if vulnerable people should be using higher grade masks such as FFP2.

Husbands said they are expensive as they are disposable and need to be fitted properly.

She added: “Good quality cloth face coverings – meaning at least two  layers of close weave fabric – provide adequate protection for most people.”

She said if more people wore masks even when the mandate is lifted, it “would be a demonstration of people using good judgement and also looking out for each other”.

Dr Mark Rickets, City and Hackney NHS clinical chair, said that higher grade masks, which healthcare workers and doctors have to wear, need to be fitted correctly. He feels an ordinary face mask is suitable for members of the public.

He recounted his experience of spending 20 minutes trying on several high-grade medical masks to get a good fit before he could work on the wards at the height of the pandemic.

“Once they are fitted, they are solidly round your mouth and you’re breathing through a fitted valve and it is hard work,” he said.

He feared that the public might find them too uncomfortable.

Instead, he suggested: “Let’s just make sure people wear [ordinary masks] when they are in close contact, and [take] the precautionary approach of distance, ventilation and all those ordinary measures because they really do help.”