Police Commissioner statement on anniversary of George Floyd's murder

IN a press statement Merseyside's Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said:- �Today marks a year since the tragic death of George Floyd, murdered whilst being taken into Police custody. While being in the midst of a global pandemic, George Floyd's murder must become a pivotal moment in history, a reckoning for racial justice across the globe, a defining turning point that says:- 'no more.' It should not have taken yet another life cut short to bring this about, but it is our shared responsibility to ensure it is the last time institutional racism is allowed to inflict its devastating consequences. This has, rightly, prompted a discussion, here in the UK, about challenging racial discrimination, the importance of diverse, accountable policing, and the importance of working hard to improve the levels of trust and confidence in our Police service. As your Police Commissioner, I will work tirelessly to drive out discrimination in all its forms, and call for institutional change and greater accountability. I have already begun this work by looking at the recommendations from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities recent report. As the recommendations state, I will look at Police public encounters and the monitoring and scrutiny of stop and search powers, Section 60 authorisations and community involvement in this work. I will highlight and build on current practice that sees community members review body worn footage of Police stops and I will ensure my Force Inspection programme of scrutiny robustly identifies any disproportionally, as well as areas for improvement. It is vital that all communities on Merseyside have confidence that their Police are working to keep them safe and I will look to build bridges and create partnerships between Police, partners and communities; ensuring a truly co-operative and community led approach. It is also vital that a Police Force reflects the diversity of the public it is there to serve. Our Police Service is founded on the principle that 'the Police are the public and the public are the Police.' I will continue to scrutinise the recruitment and retention of Police Officers and staff to encourage diversity across all ranks. I am committed to working with the Police staff networks, as well as the Independent Advisory Group to promote the work they do to tackle race equality and highlight other areas for reform. To be frank, we must do more and we must do better in this vital area. I look forward to working with everyone across Merseyside to work towards equality. Racism or discrimination of any kind has no place in society and no place in our diverse Region."

Liverpool pilot events have no impact on Covid spread in Region

LIVERPOOL Public Health officials and scientists have found the city�s pilot events did not cause any detectable spread of Covid19 across the City Region. The city hosted 4 hugely successful events as part of the national Events Research Programme (ERP), with a total of 13,258 people attending:- The Good Business Festival, 2 nightclub events hosted by Circus and the Sefton Park Pilot music festival. All attendees were required to take a lateral flow test ahead of the event; a negative test would allow them access. 5 people with the Covid19 virus were identified through this process and were not allowed to attend. Ticketholders were encouraged to take a PCR test on the day of the event, and a 2nd one 5 days later. This process identified 4 people as possibly having the virus at an event; and a further 7 people were identified with the virus four to 7 days after they attended and event. Of those who tested positive:- 2 attended the music festival, 9 attended the nightclub and none attended the business festival. Many of the cases were friends who meet outside of events and may not have been infected at an event itself. Everyone who tested positive was successfully followed up by the contact tracing team. Scientists found the testing, data and contact tracing systems worked well, with key information being available to public health teams before the events which allowed contacts of potential cases to be traced quickly.

Liverpool�s Director of Public Health, Matt Ashton, said:- �Liverpool�s involvement in the ERP is undoubtedly a success story, providing us with vital learning which will shape how this sector safely reopens. The significance of the City�s role in this pilot shouldn�t be underestimated; the eyes of the world were on us for days as we made pioneering strides to bring people back together to share and experience events without any Covid restrictions in place. Working in partnership with the University of Liverpool and with promoters, we have developed Covid safe protocols which will now be shared to help inform the wider sector. I�m proud of our role in this project and we look forward to seeing how our findings shape national policy."

The research team also found that between 25% and 43% of people returned a PCR test after the event, with the Sefton Park Pilot festival seeing three times the number of the other Liverpool pilots due to the incentive of winning tickets to future gigs. Every Covid19 test result for the 2.6m population of Cheshire and Merseyside was examined before and after the events, with 96% of tickets linked to test results. The results showed there was no evidence of any substantial spread of the virus around the pilot events.

Professor Iain Buchan, Dean of the Institute of Population Health at the University of Liverpool, said:- "The Events Research Programme in Liverpool demonstrated the importance of close working between events organisers, local public health teams and event goers in delivering the Covid safety net needed to make events as safe as possible over the coming months. Timely data and quick action to trace and test contacts of people testing positive, both before and after events, was key to containing potential outbreaks; a job that teams at Liverpool City Council did extremely well. We identified room for improvements such as ensuring people do not attend if they feel even slightly unwell; not just those with classic symptoms of Covid19; maximising ventilation even in large indoor spaces; incentives to return PCR tests for research purposes; and automating the issue of tickets only after an assured negative test in the day running up to the event. There is more to learn from improved Covid safety measures as we welcome events back, and Liverpool will keep producing the evidence needed to secure enjoyment of events for us all."

Covid19 infections remain low in Liverpool and the pattern of variants is being watched carefully. The public health and science teams are cautiously optimistic that events can reopen reasonably safely with effective testing in place, and anyone feeling unwell should not attend. Wearing face coverings or maintaining social distancing were not required at any of Liverpool�s pilot events.

Director of Culture Liverpool, Claire McColgan, said:- "The Pandemic has been devastating for the events sector, so we�re delighted we have shown that with certain measures in place, people can dance, sing, hug, laugh together, in a crowd, safely. Bringing together the medical and event worlds posed challenges that no promoter, event organiser, university, government department or local authority have ever faced before, and it�s thanks to the incredible team in this city that we have these findings today. Public Health Liverpool, the University of Liverpool, our events team, the brilliant promoters and the people of this city have embraced this programme, worked tirelessly together and, as a result, made a real difference to those whose lives are sustained by the industry, and those whose lives are enriched by it. I want to say thank you to everyone involved. Your hard work paid off and you have given hope to this sector which will reap the benefits of our experience."

Liverpool�s test events were:-

The Good Business Festival, that was held on:- Wednesday, 28 April 2021.

► Circus nightclub, which was held on Friday, 30 April 2021.

► Circus nightclub, which was held on Saturday, 1 May 2021.

► Sefton Park Pilot Music Festival, which was held on Sunday, 2 May 2021.

THE total number of UK Coronavirus (Covid19) infections that have been laboratory confirmed, within the UK, has risen by:- 2,493 cases and the total number now stand at:- 4,467,310 that includes tests carried out by commercial partners which are not included in the 4 National totals.

The total number of Covid19 associated UK fatalities added to the total, was sadly reported to be:- 15 within 28 days of positive test, according to the Department of Health. The total number of deaths of people who have had a positive test result confirmed by a Public Health or NHS laboratory is:- 127,739, within 28 days of positive test. Deaths with Covid19 on the death certificate:- 152,068.

The number of Covid19 patients currently in UK Hospitals:- 978. The current number of Covid19 patients currently in mechanical ventilation beds in UK Hospitals:- 121 Daily number of Covid19 patients admitted to UK Hospitals:- 123.

In England, there are a total of:- 3,899,813 confirmed cases. North West - total of:- 616,832 confirmed cases.

The number of laboratory confirmed cases within the Liverpool City Region are as follow:-

Area and number of confirmed cases:- Risen by:-
Liverpool City Region

Nation Lockdown

National UK Restrictions

► Liverpool, 48,634 confirmed cases.
11

► Halton, 12,006 confirmed cases. 0

► Knowsley, 17,428 confirmed cases. 5

► Sefton, 24,230 confirmed cases. 4

► St. Helens, 17,139 confirmed cases. 0

► Wirral, 24,349 confirmed cases.
4

Colour Key:- 0 1 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 100 100 to 199 200 & over

Daily reported Covid19 deaths are now measured across the UK as deaths that occurred within 28 days of the 1st laboratory confirmed positive Covid19 test. Daily and cumulative numbers of Covid19 patients admitted to Hospital. Data are not updated every day by all 4 nations and the figures are not comparable as Wales include suspected Covid19 patients while the other nations include only confirmed cases.

Total UK people who have received Vaccination

1st Dose 2nd Dose

38,192,417

23,228,511

Jab Stats correct as of:- 24 May 2021

The Vaccination programme began on 8 December 2020 with people receiving the Vaccine developed by Pfizer / BioNTech, and people began receiving the Oxford University / AstraZeneca Vaccine from 4 January 2021. Both Vaccine s are given as 2 doses, at lEast 21 days apart, for a full Vaccination course.

Police Commissioner statement on anniversary of George Floyd's murder

Liverpool pilot events have no impact on Covid spread in Region

CLA will support Environment Agency's work on clearing water courses once it resumes

Total UK cases Covid19 cases in and around Liverpool City Region