Coronavirus

Detailed government guidance and information

The Government has announced more details about step 4, the final stage of the roadmap, which is expected to start on 19 July. There are also 5 principles for managing COVID-19 as we learn to live with the virus. Find out what will change following a move to step 4.

International travel

Some Gypsies and Travellers, especially those living in caravans, vehicles and canal boats, are likely to be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Social distancing or self-isolation can be particularly challenging for members of these communities, which is why Government have published specific public health guidance to help those leading a nomadic way of life.

Guidance for those leading a nomadic way of life

The organisation Doctors of the World, in partnership with the British Red Cross, Migrant Help and Clear Voice, has produced written translations of key Government advice in 60 languages.

The advice is also available in video format in 10 languages.

More resources

Thank you to the National Autism Society for these visual aids about social distancing.

Detailed government guidance and information

Engage, explain, encourage and enforce

The police can take action against you if you meet in larger groups. This includes breaking up illegal gatherings and issuing fines (fixed penalty notices).

You can be given a fixed penalty notice of £200 for the first offence, doubling for further offences up to a maximum of £6,400.

You can be fined £800 if you go to a private indoor gathering such as a house party of over 15 people from outside your household, which will double for each repeat offence to a maximum level of £6,400.

If you hold, or are involved in holding, an illegal gathering of over 30 people indoors or 50 people outdoors, the police can fine you £10,000.

Information on how eligible adults can book a COVID-19 vaccination appointment is available.

Easy-read resources are available for people with a learning disability and their carers.

British Sign Language videos are available to view and download.

A Braille version of this leaflet is available to order.

Paper copies of this leaflet are available to order for free or download in the following languages:
English, English large print, Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese, Estonian, Farsi, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Latvian, Lithuanian, Panjabi, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, Twi, Ukrainian and Urdu.

Video messages about the vaccination are available in the following languages from Hampshire County Council:
Bengali/Bangladeshi, Gujarati, Hindi, Pashto, Urdu, and Arabic.

There are also resources about self-isolation, test & trace, welfare financial support and much more.

Local delivery of the vaccination programme

Please wait to be contacted by the NHS for an appointment. When it is the right time people will be contacted to make their appointments. For most people they will receive a letter either from their GP or the national booking system; this will include all the information they need, including their NHS number. Some services are currently also phoning and texting patients to invite them in. Find out more about how you will be contacted on the NHS website.

Further information about the vaccine and what happens at the appointment

Coronavirus Scams Warning

• Comprehensive guide from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit about the types of fraud and scams reported in relation to COVID-19, what to look out for, and how to keep yourself safe
• Hampshire Constabulary leaflet detailing the latest types of fraud and scams related to COVID-19 
• Printer-friendly version of the Hampshire Constabulary leaflet detailing the latest types of fraud and scams
• Information leaflet on mandate fraud for businesses, charities and community organisations

NHS vaccine scams

Criminals are using the COVID-19 vaccine as a way to target the public by tricking them to hand over cash or financial details. They are sending convincing-looking text messages letting people know they are eligible for the vaccine or phoning people directly pretending to be from the NHS, or local pharmacy.

The NHS is the only organisation which has access to the vaccine, and will never ask for money or prove of identity by sending copies of personal documents such as your passport. Medical or health professionals will not come to your home unannounced and without prior notification. If anyone attempts to force or coerce you into handing over funds – in person or otherwise – always contact the police.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) scams – be extra vigilant

The HSAB has been made aware that Scammers are trying to take advantage of people’s worries and uncertainty about the pandemic, especially those who are alone, self-isolating or in financial difficulty within the Hampshire Area. 

Coronavirus-related scams include:

• Sales of fake products such as face masks, supplements, anti-virus kits and sanitisers, which may be harmful or simply never arrive
• Bogus healthcare workers who try to gain access to your home by claiming to offer testing for COVID-19
• People pretending to be from charities offering to do shopping or carry out cleansing tasks
• Emails asking for donations to the NHS.

The HSAB Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information Hub has information on where to get help and find out more information on COVID-19: https://www.hampshiresab.org.uk/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-public-and-professionals

NHS Test and Trace scams

Contact tracers will only call you from the number 0300 013 5000. Anyone who does not wish to talk over the phone can request the NHS Test and Trace service to send an email or text instead, inviting them to log into the web-based service.

All text or emails sent by NHS Test and Trace will ask people to sign into the contact tracing website and will provide you with a unique reference number. We would advise people to type the web address https://contact-tracing.phe.gov.uk directly into their browser, followed by the unique reference number given to you, rather than clicking on any link provided in the message.

The NHS Test and Trace service will never:

• ask you to dial a premium rate number to speak to them (for example, those starting 09 or 087)
• ask you to make any form of payment or purchase a product or any kind
• ask for any details about your bank account
• ask for your social media identities or login details, or those of your contacts
• ask you for any passwords or PINs, or ask you to set up any passwords or PINs over the phone
• ask you to download any software to your PC or ask you to hand over control of your PC, smartphone or tablet to anyone else
• ask you to access any website that does not belong to the government or NHS

Other things to beware of

• Be aware of people offering miracle cures for coronavirus – there is no specific treatment for coronavirus (COVID-19). Treatment aims to relieve the symptoms until you recover.
• Home cleaning services.
• Emails saying that you can get a refund on taxes, utilities or similar are usually bogus and they are just after your personal and bank details.
• There are lots of fake products available to buy online that say they can protect you or cure coronavirus. These will not help and are designed to take your money.
• There are new mobile phone applications that claim to give you updates on the virus but instead, they lock your phone and demand a ransom.
• Your bank or the police will never ask for your bank details over the phone.
• People offering to do your shopping or collecting medication and asking for money upfront and then disappearing.

Doorstep fraud

Groups are setting up all over the county to offer support to people who are isolating. Whilst in the vast majority of these cases, the individuals will be well intentioned, there may be some who see this as an opportunity for their own criminal gain.

People carrying out shopping on behalf of you, or a loved one, will at some point need to be paid. If you give them cash, how do you know they will come back with the goods? If you give them your bank cards, they have access to all of your funds.

• Stop – never do anything you don’t want to or make any decisions on the spot.
• Check – Check for ID but remember most of these are community volunteers so wouldn’t necessarily have ID. There is no way of knowing whether they are legitimate.
• Ask – Ask someone you trust for a second opinion, or ask them if they can provide the support you need.
• Mine – If they ask for your card or your pin, remember this is very personal information which should not be shared.
• Share – If you come across a scam, share your experience with others if possible to prevent them from being scammed.

Doorstep fraud is a crime. It happens to a wide range of people with all sorts of backgrounds. Please report it if it happens to you.

The Victim Care Service provides support for victims of crime to cope with, and recover from, the harmful effects of the crime they have experienced. The service is funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner and provided by Victim Support.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has required the Victim Care Service to make changes in line with Government and Public Health England advice to protect the safety of staff, volunteers, service users and the public.

While the VCS is no longer able to offer face-to-face meetings at this time and users will no longer be able to ‘drop in’ to any office locations, there is still help available over the phone.

• The VCS can now be contacted for self-referrals and queries from 9am-5pm Monday to Friday on 0808 178 1641.
• Any calls to the service made within 8am-9am and 5pm-8pm Mon-Fri and 8am-8pm Saturday will be diverted to Victim Support’s national support line, so the call will still be answered.
• Self-referrals can still be made via the Victim Care Service website, the Victim Support website or the Live Chat facility.

The Victim Care Service leaflet can be downloaded here.

Leaflets in other languages are available here.

The Victim Care Service is open to all victims no matter what the type of crime, regardless of whether the crime has been reported to the police or not, and no matter how recently or how long ago the crime took place.

We know that COVID-19 (Coronavirus) will have a serious impact on the lives of women, children and men who are experiencing domestic abuse. Fears over jobs, financial pressure, school closures, working from home and all the other current changes to our day to day lives are likely to result in an increase in domestic abuse incidents.

The restrictions put in place while the government tries to slow the spread of the virus can leave those already living with domestic abuse fearful of being isolated in the house with their abuser and as if there is nowhere to go for help.

Please remember that you can still call 999 if you or someone else is in danger.

While some domestic abuse support services are not able to offer face to face meetings at this time, there is still help and advice available online and over the phone. These local and national organisations are working hard to ensure they can still support you.

• Victim Care Service (Hampshire and Isle of Wight) – 0808 178 1641
  
• Hampshire Domestic Abuse Service – 03300 165112
• Stop Domestic Abuse (Portsmouth) – 023 9206 5494
• Aurora New Dawn – 023 9421 6816
• Yellow Door (Southampton) – 023 8063 6313
• PIPPA (Southampton) – 023 8091 7917
• You Trust (Isle of Wight) – 0800 234 6266
• National Domestic Abuse Helpline – 0808 2000 247
• Men’s Advice Line – 0808 801 0327
• National LBGT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline – 0800 999 5428
• If you’re a child or young person and domestic abuse is happening in your home or relationship, then call Childline on 0800 1111.

Ask for ANI code word scheme

• If you are experiencing domestic abuse, ask for ANI.
• If a pharmacy has Ask for ANI on display, this means they are ready to help. Anyone can approach a member of staff and ask for ANI (pronounced like the name Annie).
• They will offer you a private space, provide you with a phone and ask if you want a 999 police response, or speak to a domestic abuse helpline.

From 14 January, victims of domestic abuse will be able to access much needed support from thousands of pharmacies across the UK. The Ask for ANI scheme will be initially available through the 2,300 Boots stores across the UK as well as 255 independent pharmacies.

The Ask for ANI scheme allows those at risk or suffering from abuse to discreetly signal that they need help and access support. By asking for ANI, a trained pharmacy worker will offer a private space where they can understand if the victim needs to speak to the police or would like help to access support services such as a national or local domestic abuse helplines.

If you are concerned that your behaviour may be causing harm 

• Hampton Trust  02380 009898

Supporting employees experiencing domestic abuse

The Government has put together a Domestic Abuse Guide for Employers to help them support members of staff who are or may be experiencing domestic abuse.

If you need to get in touch with the police, there are lots of options.

Leaflet

Hampshire Constabulary have produced this leaflet, which provides contact details for various support organisations.  It’s also available in black and white to be easily printed.

Online

Hampshire Constabulary’s website allows you to access lots of services, including reporting crimes. If you can do this, it keeps other resources free for those in need, or who can’t get online.

By email

If you need to speak to your local policing team, please email them in the first instance.  You can look up your local team via the police.uk website, and their page includes the email address you need.

By telephone

If you can’t get online or email, you can contact Hampshire Constabulary using the 101 non-emergency line.  Only call 999 in an emergency when there is immediate danger to life or a crime in progress.

In person

You can speak to the police at a front counter location at one of the four Police Investigation Centre locations: Southampton, Basingstoke, Portsmouth, or Newport; front counter services are also available at Aldershot, Andover, Winchester, Lymington, Portswood, Fareham, Gosport, Havant, and Waterlooville. Please do not come to a police location if you have symptoms of the coronavirus, or if you suspect you have been in contact with someone else who may have the virus.