Greenhill Primary School
Gallwn Gyda'n Gilydd Together We Can
Welcome
Open Letter from Caerphilly Council
An open letter to residents, businesses and partners across the Caerphilly county borough:
Last week we advised you that the number Coronavirus cases across the county borough had fallen from over 100 cases per 100,000 population to approximately 50 cases per 100,000.
This was encouraging news and was the result of the collective action of our residents, businesses and partners. In response to this positive position, you will recall that we agreed to develop our exit strategy with Welsh Government.
We can only implement these plans once we have absolute confidence that the virus is under control and it is safe for us to begin to relax the restrictions. This is a fast-moving situation and over the past few days we have seen a shift in the data.
Unfortunately it is a shift in the wrong direction with the latest data showing an increase in our infection rate – today it is 60.2 cases per 100,000 population.
Last week, we were quietly confident that we were beginning to see ‘light at the end of the tunnel’, however, this week has been quite different. We have experienced an increased number of local incidents across all parts of the county borough, including a number of issues linked to private clubs.
The number of Coronavirus hospital admissions has also risen and we have seen an overall increased number of positive cases. Furthermore, our colleagues in Gwent Police have experienced an increase in the number of complaints relating to people gathering within households and outside groups.
Given the current situation, we do not have absolute confidence at this time that the virus is under control. Therefore, the current restrictions are going to remain in place for at least another 7 days.
We fully appreciate how challenging this is for you. Many are desperate to see family members and friends. Business is also being affected but we ask that you stick with us. We can only do this if each and every one of us continue to play our part. None of us want to be in this position over Christmas, so we ask that you continue to think about what you do and how you do it.
The Council and our partner agency response remain absolutely resolute. We have increased testing capacity in place, so if you are symptomatic please go and get a test and self-isolate until the test result is known - and continue to self-isolate if the result is positive. Also, if you are a confirmed contact of someone who has tested positive for coronavirus then you must self-isolate for 14 days – even if you have had a negative test result.
It is so important to know where and how this virus is spreading across the county borough and testing, along with Track and Trace is absolutely pivotal to us understanding and responding to this.
We are using our enforcement powers to address the small number of non-compliant establishments we have identified and over the last week alone, a number of locations have been closed down and will remain closed until they can adhere to the regulations that are in place for everyone’s safety.
Using our enforcement powers to address this situation is not the answer. The answer to this lies with each and every one of us and it is back to the basic behaviours:
- Socially distance yourself from others
- Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly
- Wear a face mask whenever required
- Get a test if you are symptomatic and self- isolate until you receive the test results and thereafter if the test is positive.
We know these basic actions work to limit the spread of the virus. Our schools are a great example of this.
Please don’t underestimate how quickly this virus spreads. It only needs a few people to not comply with the basic preventative measures for it to spread rapidly amongst us.
In summary, we have made great progress so far, but we continue to be in a very precarious position. We must continue to think carefully about our actions and the impact it has upon the safety of ourselves and others.
You can rely on us to continue to throw everything we’ve got to keep our people and place safe, but we can’t do this alone, we need each and every one of you to continue to work with us to get control of this virus.
We have come so far, but we still have some way to go! Thank you so much for your continued vigilance and patience – let’s hang on in there – we will get this over the line together!
Cllr Philippa Marsden Christina Harrhy
Leader of Council Chief Executive