Don't let your guard down !

Cheshire East Council encourages residents not to drop their guard against Covid-19

Cheshire East Council is encouraging residents not to drop their guard against the ongoing battle against Covid-19.

As we progress step by step through the government's roadmap out of lockdown, we must not forget how hard we've all worked, and the many sacrifices we've all made to get to this stage.

Many people will be celebrating this week's easing of restrictions -including the re-opening of non-essential shops, outdoor hospitality, many outdoor attractions, and indoor leisure, including gyms.

Infection rates across Cheshire East are currently 15.6 cases per 100k over 7 days, which is a massive achievement following the peak of over 500 cases per 100k in January this year. This reduction in cases has been achieved through the many sacrifices of residents and businesses in sticking to the lockdown measures and keeping up with social distancing, wearing face coverings where possible and maintaining hygiene standards.

Cheshire East Council has seen the effectiveness of local contact tracing of residents who have received a positive test result. The Council contact the individual directly rather than the national service and instruct the individual to self-isolate. Local contact tracers also provide instructions and support to people, who have tested positive and for members of their households, who have to self-isolate.

The NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme in Cheshire East, led by the NHS Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group, has so far seen over 204,000 residents, nearly 63% have had their first dose of the vaccine and 61,000 residents so far having had their second dose. The number of people in Cheshire East who have had their first and second dose is increasing on a daily basis and the council would like to thank all of those who've had it so far.

Dr Matt Tyrer, Director of Public Health for Cheshire East Council said: "I'd like to thank all residents for their hard work in driving infection rates in Cheshire East down. Despite our successes we all must remain vigilant and work hard to not let this virus work its way back into our borough. If we let our guard down it can quickly embed itself and continue to cause illness and, sadly, death in some cases.

"It's important that we do not forget the continued importance of good hand hygiene, wearing a face covering where appropriate and keeping a distance from others.

"We want residents to be able to relax and have a good time enjoying the current relaxed measures, but not to let their standards drop and their view on the latest continuing measures such as the rule of six/two households outside, to blur. People are generally safer outside in the fresh air which is why it's important not to mix with others indoors.

"We must continue to protect ourselves and others through regular testing as around one in three people who have Covid-19 do not have any symptoms. The council has a range of testing options for residents: via visiting a testing centre or to collect home-testing kits for asymptomatic tests, and several testing sites available for tests for those with symptoms. These can be found by visiting www.Cheshireeast.gov.uk/covid-testing

"Regular testing is still important for those people who have had their first, or even second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as despite having higher immunity against the virus, you can still catch it and carry it to others.

For more advice and information follow the council's social media pages, visit their Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/cheshireeastcouncil and Twitter at: @CheshireEast