Lockdown Round-Up: Magna Vitae, Infection Figures, Community Grants and Covid Advisors

Magna Vitae loses Mark Humphreys

It's no surprise that the culture and leisure sector is finding 2020 particularly hard, and this has been no exception for Magna Vitae. The organisation's long-standing chief executive, Mark Humphries, has opted to step down from his role, as the senior leadership team has been reduced from three people to two. James Brindle and Aeneas Richardson will now jointly lead the organisation.

I have had the opportunity to meet Mark several times over the course of the years, and know him as a dedicated and knowledgeable advocate for sports and leisure in the district. It is a shame that Magna Vitae will be losing his expertise.

Sadly, the pandemic has hit the sector hard, and there is a real risk that other organisations in arts and leisure will face similar difficult moments.

Community grants

Louth Town Council on Tuesday 17th November is due to look at making its annual grants to community organisations. In a normal year there may be around 12 to 15 of these, although I think as many as 20 grant applications isn't out of the question. There are a lot of community groups in Louth which normally look to make improvements to the things they can offer to participants.

In 2020, only two groups have made an application.

These are Louth and District Help For Homeless, and the Riverhead Theatre. The Riverhead Theatre is applying for its seating fund, which anyone can contribute to here.

I strongly suspect this lack of grant applications is due to many local community groups being in a state of dormancy or semi-dormancy. Many organisations are unable to meet, for obvious reasons related to the need to social distance. This is having a profound effect. This is a concern both for the negative effects this will have on everyone's health and happiness, and also on the potential loss of skills in certain areas.

Covid Advisors

East Lindsey District Council is about to recruit Covid Advisors to help businesses and individuals understand and comply with guidance and rules on Covid.

It's going to be important in the coming weeks that people understand what's expected and work together to defeat the virus.

Local Restrictions Support Grant

The Local Restrictions Support Grant, aimed at helping businesses that have had to close due to the lockdown, opened on 17th November.

The Covid Symptom Study

As of 17th November, the Covid Symptom Study is estimating 1490 active cases of Covid in East Lindsey. That's an improvement on the 2016 active cases it estimated on 11th November. However, the figures for this tend to fluctuate more widely than figures for confirmed case numbers, although they have tracked similar trends.

Case statistics

The government's figures for East Lindsey for the week up to November 11th indicate 731 cases for East Lindsey. That includes 87 cases for the town of Louth itself.

So there is clearly cause for concern about the rate of Covid in East Lindsey, and it's too early to tell what the effect of the current lockdown will be on numbers. Don't plan very much for Christmas just yet.