The Government announced updated guidance yesterday to control the virus and save lives. It emphasised the importance of continuing to 'stay alert', and therefore people must:
- stay at home as much as possible
- work from home if you can
- limit contact with other people
- keep your distance if you go out
- wash your hands regularly
- stay at home and self-isolate if you or anyone in your household has symptoms of coronavirus, including a new, continuous cough or a high temperature
These measures should be followed by everyone. Additional advice is available for people or households who are isolating, and for the most vulnerable who need to be shielded, and must be followed.
The City of Wolverhampton Council’s Director of Public Health John Denley said: "We are all responsible for helping to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and we know that the lockdown has been working.
“It is incredibly important that everyone continues to adhere to the social distancing measures which remain in place. That means staying at home as much as possible and keeping at least 2 metres away from others when we are out and about.
"Yesterday, the Prime Minister gave us the first indications of how we, as a country, might start to get back to normal.
“Anyone who is able to work from home must continue to work from home, but there will be a gradual increase in the number of people who go into work, and social distancing measures need to be adopted to ensure that this is safe.
“People can now go out for exercise more than once a day, but as before this must only be alone or with members of your household, and you must stay two metres away from others while doing so.
“There will continue to be updates on the steps that are safe to take us out of lockdown over the coming weeks, but the progress that we make depends on us all continuing to adhere to social distancing rules – the limited changes to the guidance announced last night do not, by any stretch of the imagination, constitute an end to the lockdown.
“In the meantime we simply must do all we can to stay home and to avoid unnecessary contact with others, because the more we do this right now, the quicker we can all get back to normal.”
Other existing measures remain in place. Schools are closed to all pupils except the most vulnerable children and those of ‘critical’ workers and social events, including weddings, baptisms and other religious ceremonies, have been stopped. Funerals continue, but should only be attended by immediate family members. Wolverhampton's parks and cemeteries are open, with social distancing measures in place.
Retailers which have been permitted to remain open should enable social distancing by limiting how many people can be in-store at any one time and asking customers to stand two metres apart when in-store and whilst queuing. In addition customers are encouraged to pay using contactless to reduce the amount of cash being handled by staff.
The latest information and guidance around coronavirus is available at GOV.UK and on the council’s own coronavirus pages at Coronavirus advice and information. There’s lots of advice on how people can protect themselves and their families from coronavirus from the NHS.
The council’s Stay Safe, Be Kind campaign offers clear and simple advice about how people can help themselves, and how they can support others who may be particularly vulnerable at this time. For more information, please visit Stay Safe Be Kind.
