Covid-19 Risk Assessment: Week Ending 7 January 2024

Covid infection levels in England remain at near-record heights, with between 1 in 20 and 1 in every 28 people in England infected with Covid as of 7 January. These remain Critically High levels, and it is essential that everyone takes precautions to avoid catching Covid.

As an example of the risk of catching Covid, a typical busy supermarket will have around 13 infected people breathing out virus for you to breathe in. In a full single decker bus, there will be 2 or 3 infected people breathing out virus. In a busy train carriage, there will be 6 or 7 infected people breathing out virus. In these circumstances, unless you wear a respiratory filter mask, you are extremely likely to catch Covid. Cloth and surgical masks do not protect you.

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1 in 14 people in England likely now infected. 21 infected people in a busy supermarket. Risk of meeting someone with Covid increases and remains Critically High.

Covid-19 Risk Assessment: Week Ending 24 December 2023

Covid infection levels in England have hit near-record heights, with around 1 in every 14 people in England infected with Covid as of 24 December. These are Critically High levels, and it is essential that everyone takes precautions to avoid catching Covid.

As an example of the risk of catching Covid, a typical busy supermarket will have around 21 infected people breathing out virus for you to breathe in. In a full single decker bus, there will be 3 or 4 infected people breathing out virus. In a busy train carriage, there will be 10 or 11 infected people breathing out virus. In these circumstances, unless you wear a respiratory filter mask, you are extremely likely to catch Covid. Cloth and surgical masks do not protect you.

To add to the risk this Christmas and New Year period, there are 2 new variants of the Covid virus circulating. This means that even if you have had Covid recently, of have recently been vaccinated or boosted, you can still catch Covid again and be seriously ill. There is no such thing as immunity against Covid – the virus changes every time people develop immunity.

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1 in 19 people in England likely now infected. 15 infected people in a busy supermarket. Risk of meeting someone with Covid now Critically High.

Covid-19 Risk Assessment: Week Ending 22 December 2023

Covid infection levels in England are Critically High, with around 1 in every 23 people in England infected with Covid, as of 13 December. Today, around 1 in every 19 people are likely to be infected with Covid, and we are expecting infection levels to continue to increase over the Christmas period. These are among the highest Covid levels ever seen in England, and it is essential that everyone takes precautions to avoid catching Covid.

As an example of the risk of catching Covid, a typical busy supermarket will have between 13 and 15 infected people breathing out virus for you to breathe in. In a full single decker bus, there will be 2 or 3 infected people breathing out virus. In a busy train carriage, there will be between 9 and 10 infected people breathing out virus. In these circumstances, unless you wear a respiratory filter mask, you are extremely likely to catch Covid. Cloth and surgical masks do not protect you.

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The BuDS stand at the Towersey Festival 2023. The blue and gold BuDS flags and banners are seen in the middle of a busy festival scene with blurred images of people in the foreground and background.

BuDS Annual Meeting 2023

Your chance to learn more about us and get involved!

The BuDS Annual Meeting for 2023 will be held online at 3 pm on Saturday 13 January 2024. This isn’t a stuffy meeting but a celebration of all we have done in this extraordinary year. There’s plenty of opportunity to ask questions and get involved in our work. This year, we are also making some big changes to evolve BuDS so that we can help more people.

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A woman is talking on a laptop screen to another woman, who is writing down what the first person is saying

Tell Us About Your Experience of Disability Employment Services

Getting a job can be a really difficult time for disabled young people, and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Several organisations provide services that help disabled/SEND young people into work. If you have used one of these services, we would love to hear from you.

Bucks services that help disabled/SEND young people into work include DWP job coaches, Jobcentres, New Meaning, Macintyre, Talkback, and BuDS Reach4Work. There are lots of others, but these are the main services, which we call “disability employment support services”.

We would like to talk to you about your experience of using disability employment support services, focusing on any barriers you may have faced, and the quality of support you received. We would also like to talk to you if you wanted to use a disability employment support service, but couldn’t find one that would help you. We’d also like to hear any ideas that you may have about how to improve these services.

If you’d like to get involved, please click the button below, complete the short form, and we will be in touch with you. If you’d like to know more, please keep reading.

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1 in 37 people in England now infected. 9 infected people in a busy supermarket. Risk of meeting someone with Covid remains Extremely High.

Covid-19 Risk Assessment: Week Ending 11 September 2023

Covid infection levels in England continue their relentless slow increase, with around 1 in every 37 people in England now infected with Covid. (This is also the rate and risk for Bucks). As an example of the risk of catching Covid, a typical busy supermarket will have between 6 and 11 infected people breathing out virus for you to breathe in. The risk level remains Extremely High.

Remember, Covid is airborne: the virus spreads mainly through the air. An infected person in an unventilated place creates a large invisible cloud of virus which hangs in the air like smoke, ready for you to breathe in. Because the NHS has not improved the ventilation in its buildings, hospitals and GP practices are extremely dangerous places to catch Covid. NHS staff are now required to work even if they have Covid and there are no Covid precautions in place at most NHS buildings. Do avoid hospitals and GP practices unless your visit is essential and wear a tight-fitted filter mask (FFP2 or FFP3) or respirator all the time if you have to go there.

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A learning disabled white man wearing a hi-vis jacket. He is holding an engineering tool, and machinery can be seen in the background. He could be a factory or garage worker.

How Good Are Bucks Services At Helping Young Disabled People Get A Job?

Blue logo with Reach4Work written in yellow, and BuDS Send Transitions Service written in blue around the logo

Getting a job can be a really difficult time for disabled young people, and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Several organisations provide services that help disabled/SEND young people into work. If you have used one of these services, we would love to hear from you.

Bucks services that help disabled/SEND young people into work include DWP job coaches, Jobcentres, New Meaning, Macintyre, Talkback, and BuDS Reach4Work. There are lots of others, but these are the main services, which we call “disability employment support services”.

You can help in two ways:

We would like to hear from you about your experience of using disability employment support services, focusing on any barriers you may have faced, and the quality of support you received. We would also like to hear from you if you wanted to use a disability employment support service, but couldn’t find one that would help you. We’d also like to hear any ideas that you may have about how to improve these services. Read on if you have any further questions.

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A learning disabled child smiling into the camera and holding up her hands, which are brightly painted with several colours

Moving Up To Year 7: How Was It For Your Child?

The logo of the BuDS SEND Transitions Service. This is a blue circle with the words Fair4All Education in gold inside it, surrounded the words BuDS SEND Transitions Service in blue

Moving up to year 7 can be a really difficult time for many children, especially those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We are working to improve the year 6 to year 7 experience for disabled and SEND children, and we would really like your help.

We would like to talk to you about the year 6 to year 7 transition, focusing on any barriers your child may have faced, the quality of support your child received, and hear any ideas that you may have about how to improve the transition. This will happen by a video call with a member of our friendly team, at a time that is convenient for you. If you’d like to get involved, please click the button below, complete the short form, and we will be in touch with you. If you’d like to know more, please keep reading.

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1 in 39 people in England now infected. 9 infected people in a busy supermarket. Risk of meeting someone with Covid remains Extremely High.

Covid-19 Risk Assessment: Week Ending 4 September 2023

Covid infection levels in England relentlessly continue to rise, with around 1 in every 39 people in England now infected with Covid. (This is also the rate and risk for Bucks). As an example of the risk of catching Covid, a typical busy supermarket will have between 6 and 11 infected people breathing out virus for you to breathe in. Remember, Covid spreads mainly through the air.

The risk level remains Extremely High. Infection levels are now the same as they were in mid-December 2022, at the beginning of the huge winter wave. If current trends continue, we should reach Critically High levels (more than 1 in every 25 people infected) in the next 6 to 8 weeks.

We are still seeing a steady week-on-week increase in Covid infections rather than a very steep peak. This suggests that the new Covid variant BA.2.86 is not yet infecting large numbers of people. A new variant which is highly infectious and escapes previous immunity usually causes a very sharp peak in infections. However, the criminal lack of Covid surveillance in the UK makes it hard to be sure.  

Alert: Hospitals and GP practices are extremely dangerous places to catch Covid. NHS staff are now required to work even if they have Covid and there are no Covid precautions in place at most NHS buildings. Do avoid hospitals and GP practices unless your visit is essential and wear a tight-fitted filter mask (FFP2 or FFP3) or respirator all the time if you have to go there.

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