COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 [NG188], NICE (published 18th December 2020)
This guideline covers identifying, assessing and managing the long-term effects of COVID-19, often described as ‘long COVID’. It makes recommendations about care in all healthcare settings for adults, children and young people who have new or ongoing symptoms 4 weeks or more after the start of acute COVID-19. It also includes advice on organising services for long COVID.

COVID-19: guidance for stepdown of infection control precautions within hospitals and discharging COVID-19 patients from hospital to home settings, PHE (updated 18th December 2020)
Update in this version (published 18th December 2020) – updated to include information on designated settings and exemption from re-testing. Update in version published 30th July 2020 – changes to self-isolation policy for all admitted patients to 14 days; updated section 3 to include the provision of written instructions for ongoing isolation when discharging patients.

COVID-19: management of staff and exposed patients and residents in health and social care settings, PHE (updated 17th December 2020)
This is guidance on the management of staff, patients and residents who have been exposed to COVID-19. Update in this version (published 17th December 2020) – added information on isolation periods and re-testing exemptions. Update in version published 14th December 2020 – updated self-isolation period.

Weekly publication of Covid-19 admissions and bed occupancy data
This file contains Covid data on measures of hospital admissions and the number of beds occupied by Covid patients and the number of MV beds (beds capable of supporting mechanical ventilation) occupied by Covid patients. Weekly Admissions and Beds 17 December 2020 (XLSX, 2.3MB)

Safety of COVID-19 vaccines when given in pregnancy -PHE (published 18th December 2020)
Guidance for health professionals to share with pregnant women immunised with COVID-19 vaccines.

Guidance: Roll out of lateral flow tests to local authorities – Department of Health and Social Care
A list of local authorities across England issued with rapid coronavirus (COVID-19) tests by the Department of Health and Social Care.

How charges for NHS hospital care will apply to overseas visitors from 1 January 2021 – Department of Health and Social Care
This guidance sets out information for overseas visitors on charging for NHS hospital care from 1 January 2021.

Mend the gap: the independent review into gender pay gaps in medicine in England -Department of Health and Social Care
This review aims to take a comprehensive approach to understanding the structural and cultural barriers affecting the female medical workforce. It responds to two primary concerns: the gender pay gap in medicine is large for a single professional group; and the new NHS contract for Doctors and Dentists in Training has a potentially negative impact on the pay gap due to a loss of increments during maternity leave.

HSJ covid-19 coverage free to view – Health Service Journal
HSJ is switching off its paywall for coronavirus stories over Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2020: health trends and variation in England – Department of Health and Social Care
After a brief section on the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in England, the main report consists of a collection of charts that present a broad and high-level overview of the nation’s health across a range of health outcomes and public health indicators. A key theme is the variation in health that exists across different dimensions: over geographies, over time, and between groups of people.

Cancer services recovery plan – NHS England 
One of the most significant impacts of the coronavirus pandemic was a sharp reduction in the number of people coming forward and being referred urgently with suspected cancer and referred from screening programmes. This plan has several aims, including restoring demand at least to pre-pandemic levels and reducing the number of people waiting over 62 days from urgent referral.

Multidisciplinary patient review in COVID-19 cohort wards – RCP 
Five health organisations release new joint guidance today to support teams caring for people with COVID-19. The guidance helps ward based teams to conduct multidisciplinary assessments while maintaining a safe and secure environment that protects both patients and healthcare staff from the risks of cross-contamination. The guidance has been developed by the Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Nursing in collaboration with the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Royal Pharmaceutical Society and NHS England & Improvement Emergency Care Improvement Support Team.

Transformation of urgent and emergency care: models of care and measurement – NHS England
This report sets out the recommendations from the clinically-led review of NHS access standards for urgent and emergency care.

COVID-19 Therapeutic Alert: Azithromycin in the Management of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Positive Patients, DHSC 
RECOVERY trial showed no significant clinical benefit of either oral or IV azithromycin in patients hospitalised with COVID-19. It is now recommended azithromycin should NOT be used in this population unless there are additional indications for which its use remains appropriate.

Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems in the context of COVID-19: first update – ECDC  
Key messages:

• It is now well-established that COVID-19 transmission commonly occurs in closed spaces;
• If well-maintained and adapted for use in the COVID-19 pandemic, heating, ventilation and airconditioning (HVAC) systems may have a complementary role in decreasing potential airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2;
• Four bundles of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) should be considered to reduce potential airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in closed spaces: the control of COVID-19 sources in closed spaces; engineering controls in mechanically ventilated (by HVAC systems) and naturally ventilated closed spaces; administrative controls; and personal protective behaviour.