South Suffolk MP James Cartlidge has urged parents to send those children eligible to school after no-one on the Shotley peninsula, and the rest of Babergh, has been tested positive for Covid-19 since last last Friday, according to Department of Health and Social Care figures.

Daily updates show, 152 in Babergh alone have tested positive for coronavirus since the outbreak, which works out at 166.3 per 100,000 residents, while for Suffolk it is

1,541 people testing positive, which equates to 203.1 per 100,000 resident.

In addition, no new deaths due to coronavirus have been recorded since Saturday at the trust ,which runs Ipswich and Colchester Hospitals

The latest data from NHS England, which were recorded in the 24 hours up to 5pm on Monday, show the last recorded death at the trust was on Saturday.

The death toll at the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trusts sits at 338 since the outbreak began, although almost twice that number of patients have been discharged after staff successfully treated them for Covid-19 symptoms.

MP Cartlidge said on social media: "Clearly, we should treat any new trends with caution because of the possibility of a second spike, but I hope this reassures people in our area that for the time being the outbreak appears to be abating.

" I hope in particular that this will provide comfort to parents invited to send their children back to school, but reluctant to do so because of national Covid-19 figures, which are unlikely to reflect the local reality on the ground."

Meanwhile, Suffolk County Council is currently bringing together organisations to plan and develop the local approach to the national NHS Test and Trace programme.

Local organisations understand residents are able to call on resources and assets to both prevent local outbreaks, and support local organisations, groups and individuals where outbreaks arise.

The tool for developing this response will be through Local Outbreak Management Plans which are required to be produced by 30th June. These plans are required to include:

Planning for local outbreaks in Care Homes and Schools

Identifying and planning how to manage High risk places, locations and communities:

Ensuring local testing is accessible to the entire population

Assessing Contact Tracing capability in complex settings

Integrating national and local data and scenario planning

Supporting Vulnerable people to get help to self-isolate and ensuring services meet the needs of diverse communities

Establishing governance structures

The plans will identify and outline support for different settings e.g. workplaces, housing complexes, care homes, schools, groups e.g. rough sleepers and vulnerable individuals who may be most at risk from the coronavirus.

Focusing on both preventive actions and outbreak response. The plan will also ensure testing capacity is deployed effectively, as well as helping the most vulnerable in self-isolation access essential services in their area. It will build on and strengthen existing relationship and processes already in place for these types of settings.

A key next step will be to set up two boards to support the delivery of our local approach and its assurance. These include:

An Officer-Led COVID-19 Health Protection Board, convened by the Director of Public Health which will represent a range of local partners, including District Councils, Public Health England, Police, NHS CCGs. This will bring together local experts and leaders to review data, agree plans and approaches and make recommendation on steps to contain the virus.

A Member-Led Engagement Board which will focus on public engagement and assurance.