An coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak at Manchester Piccadilly train station has forced dozens of staff into self-isolation after 11 people are confirmed to have tested positive.
Avanti – which runs the West Coast Mainline route from Manchester to London – has confirmed an outbreak at Piccadilly, which is managed by Network Rail.
It’s understood a staff member took a COVID-19 test last Monday before arriving for his shift on Tuesday, and then received a positive test result later that day. It was at this point he informed his managers, and now some 11 Avanti staff members have subsequently tested positive, with a further 25 self-isolating after having contact with the affected individual.
In total, 42 of the 95 Avanti workforce in Manchester are currently now in self-isolation, although it’s thought that not all are linked to this case.
Avanti West Coast bosses say they acted as soon as they were made aware of the positive test.
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The operator retraced the employee’s movements to send “around 10” of their colleagues home, and they said a further 15 workers were contacted via the NHS Track and Trace App and were told to self-isolate.
The area where the affected individual worked was closed immediately and underwent a specialist deep clean overnight.
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Dave Whitehouse – Safety and Security Director at Avanti West Coast – said: “We’re providing support for all of our people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and those self-isolating at home.
“We’ve been in regular contact; providing advice and guidance as well as stringently following government guidelines [and] we are cooperating fully with Public Health England North West and the local authority.
“As soon as we were aware of the positive test, we confirmed the member of staff’s movements and sent a number of their colleagues home immediately. A further 15 were contacted via the NHS Track and Trace App and told to self-isolate.’
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He confirmed the deep clean took place and added: “Throughout the pandemic we have ensured our people can carry out their duties in a COVID-safe manner.”
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Scott Green – Manchester Piccadilly station manager for Network Rail – said: “We have offered support to Avanti West Coast during its staffing issues due to COVID-19.”
He added that the affected area is separate from other staff areas in the station.
Mr Green continued: “Manchester Piccadilly is open and operating as normal.
“We have regular and rigorous cleaning regimes in place so passengers can travel with confidence. We’d urge passengers to wear a face covering unless exempt for medical reasons, use the numerous hand sanitising points and follow the one-way systems when travelling through the station.”
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UK set for another ‘potential’ heatwave next week after warmest June on record
Emily Sergeant
England could be heading towards another potential heatwave early next week, the Met Office has revealed.
While it’s obviously true that temperatures this week have returned to average for the time of year, bringing largely settled conditions for many, once next week rolls around, some parts of the country could be heating up once again – with the Met Office revealing what Greater Manchester residents should prepare for.
For the early part of next week, temperatures will definitely rise and perhaps reach what are considered heatwave conditions for some.
But if this is the case, the forecast suggests that it’s ‘unlikely’ to reach the high temperatures and humidity of last month’s heat, and the North West won’t be getting the worst of it.
The potential of next week’s heatwave comes after last month was officially declared the UK’s warmest June on record.
After a week of respite from the heat, high pressure moves in this weekend, dominating many southern and central areas for the next 10 days.
A defining feature of the month’s heatwave was the ‘exceptionally warm’ overnight temperatures, with frequent ‘tropical nights’ helping to drive the highest average June minimum temperatures on record.
Giving an insight into what’s to come as we head into the weekend, Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster, Tony Wisson, explained: “Toward the weekend, high pressure will continue to build in across most of the UK as it extends from the Azores. This will lead to more settled, warm or very warm conditions for many, especially across England and Wales, though some rain may still affect the far north.
“The forecast for this weekend suggests that temperatures could approach high 20s°C across parts of England, perhaps 30°C in parts of the southeast, with values of mid to high 20s°C in Wales.
“Although a return to heatwave conditions is looking increasingly likely for some areas, the likelihood of such extreme high temperatures or high levels of humidity as last week is currently low.”
Featured Image – Dmitry Zvolskiy (via Unsplash)
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NHS to begin offering new one-minute jab to women with ‘aggressive’ form of cancer
Emily Sergeant
The NHS is set to begin offering new immunotherapy for hundreds of women with aggressive cervical cancer across the country.
Pembrolizumab – which experts have described as being able to ‘take the handbrake off’ the body’s immune system to target cancer – will now be presented as a new treatment option for women in England with locally-advanced cervical cancer, which means the cancer has grown beyond the cervix to regions such as the pelvic wall, but not yet spread further around the body.
Trials found that adding pembrolizumab to standard chemoradiotherapy helped keep cancer ‘at bay’ for longer, and improved survival rates overall.
Two years after starting the treatment, nearly seven in 10 patients (68%) were still living without their cancer progressing, compared with 57% for those receiving chemoradiotherapy alone, according to NHS figures.
The trial also found that 82.6% of patients were still alive three years after treatment with pembrolizumab and chemoradiotherapy, compared with 74.8% with chemoradiotherapy alone.
Hundreds of women with aggressive cervical cancer are to be offered a new immunotherapy treatment.
It marks one of the biggest improvements in treatment for the disease in years, and could help more women survive and stay cancer-free in the long term.
The drug is either given every three or siz weeks via an infusion, or as a ‘one-minute’ injection, alongside chemoradiotherapy.
The NHS estimates around 550 patients in England will be eligible for the treatment – which has been approved this week by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – over the next two years.
Patients will now receive fast-tracked access, funded by NHS England’s Cancer Drugs Fund.
“This is great news for women facing a diagnosis of aggressive cervical cancer, and represents one of the biggest improvements in treatment for this disease in recent years,” commented Professor Peter Johnson, who is the NHS National Clinical Director for Cancer.
“Combining this immunotherapy with existing treatment has had very positive effect for patients in trials, helping the body’s immune system to target cancer more effectively.
The Manc -
11th November 2020 
