City urged to ‘ do the right thing’ and follow advice
THE leader of Derby City Council has urged people to heed the new high Tier 2 alert lockdown restrictions that will come into force on Saturday to avoid even tougher restrictions.
Councillor Chris Poulter, city council leader, said: “We should all take this opportunity to do the right thing for Derby and play our part in reducing transmission of Covid in our community.
“By following these restrictions now, we are offering the best support possible to our businesses, economy and Derbeians in general by helping to slow the rate of Covid and reducing the need for further measures. The rapid increase in the number of new cases in the city have led to the Government’s decision to increase the alert rate.
In Derby, weekly case rates stand at 288 people per 100,000.
This increases to 359 per 100,000 in those aged 17-21 and is 200 per 100,000 in the over 60s, according to Department for Health and Social Care figures published today.
Derby City Council had already called for people to start behaving as if they were in Tier 2 earlier this week when it was first suggested that the city would go into the higher tier.
Dr Robyn Dewis, Derby’s director of public health, said: “While the new restrictions don’t officially come into force until the early hours of Saturday morning, we should all consider the impact of our actions over the next couple days.
“We can all play an important part in preventing further transmission and protecting those we care about from infection.
“It is important that we familiarise ourselves with the new restrictions to ensure we are all following them properly. These changes, as well as our basic hygiene, social distancing and face covering guidelines, are our best form of defence against a greater spread of Covid in the city.
“Aside from the need to protect ourselves and loved ones, we should also remember that following these restrictions now decreases our risk of us needing to be escalated to the ‘Very High’ alert level, which will impact on our businesses, health services and schools.”
The city council has confirmed that the high Covid local alert level restrictions will mean that businesses in the city may be eligible for additional financial support.
A new system is in the process of being set up to ensure the swift and smooth distribution of funding and details of how to apply will be announced soon.
Community support will also be available to those who need it as we move into tighter restrictions. Derby’s Community Hub can be contacted on 01332 640000.