Author: Martin Driver

With the first weekend since the easing of national lockdown restrictions approaching, Sefton Council’s Environmental Health Team is urging the Borough’s businesses and their customers to follow the guidelines.

Preparations

Peter Moore, Sefton Council’s Head of Highways & Public Protection said: “Since the restrictions eased on Monday, we have been working with Sefton’s businesses to provide help and advice and we have been pleased to see the thorough preparations the vast majority of them have made.

“With a busy weekend expected for our popular hospitality sector, we are asking business owners and managers to ensure they are familiar with the latest regulations.

“But we are also asking their customers to be considerate and to follow the requirements that are there to keep both them and the people serving them safe.”

Latest requirements

Among the latest requirements for people visiting bars and restaurants that are open because they have outdoor facilities, is the need for them to be seated while drinking and eating. The volume of any music or TVs should be kept to background levels so people don’t have to raise their voices to chat.

Also, the national regulations now mean everyone visiting a bar or restaurant needs to ‘check in’ by scanning the QR code at the entrance, for Test and Trace purposes. Previously, it was just one person from each group.

Threat

Mr Moore continued: “Despite the easing of restrictions and the good progress of the NHS vaccination programme, COVID-19 is still very much with us and while around a third of people, will show no symptoms, it can still present a serious or even lethal threat to some.

“Everyone is, therefore, required to scan in with the QR code so that they can be traced should any cases of coronavirus be detected.  This can help prevent them from passing on the virus accidentally.”

Details of how businesses can create a QR code for their premises are at www.gov.uk/create-coronavirus-qr-poster

Distancing

As well as these specific requirements, Sefton Council’s Environmental Health officers have been reminding local businesses about the need for continued distancing, wearing face coverings, maintaining ventilation where possible and washing their hands thoroughly and frequently.

Help and support for businesses available from Sefton Council’s Environmental Health team who can be contact at ETSContact@sefton.gov.uk or by calling 0345 140 0345.

Also, the Government has produced 14 guides to help businesses keep their employees and customers safe They cover a wide range of different types of work and workplace, which can be found at http://gov.uk/workingsafely.

Considerate and conscious

Mr Moore added: “We want people and businesses to have a good and successful weekend and to enjoy their new-found freedoms, but we would also ask everyone to be considerate and conscious of their own safety and the safety of those around them at all times.”

Sefton Council is urging people who are out and about, going to a work environment or who will be returning to take regular rapid tests for coronavirus.

With restrictions on the opening of non-essential shops and other businesses from today, Sefton Council’s Environmental Health Team is urging everyone to continue distancing, wearing face covering, maintaining ventilation where possible and keep washing their hands thoroughly and frequently.

First steps

Peter Moore, Sefton Council’s Head of Highways & Public Protection said: “Today is a big day in starting to open up the Borough and take some first steps in the huge task of getting the local economy back on its feet.

“We appreciate the huge amounts of work that Sefton’s businesses have put into preparations for re-opening and making sure they have all the safety measures required in place.

“However, this is just the step and we all need to remain careful and continue to follow all the safety measure to protect ourselves and others.”

Help and support for businesses available from Sefton Council’s Environmental Health team who can be contact at ETSContact@sefton.gov.uk  or by calling 0345 140 0345.

Guides

To help businesses keep their employees and customers safe, the Government has produced 14 guides covering a range of different types of work and workplace, which can be found at gov.uk/workingsafely.

They include information for close contact services such as hairdressers, barbers, beauticians, for construction and other outdoor as well as factories, plants and warehouses.

Heritage locations, hotels and guest accommodation, laboratories and research facilities and offices and contact centres are also covered. And there is guidance for people who work in, visit or deliver to other people’s homes and the performing arts.

Advice and help

Mr Moore added: “We would advise that business owners and managers across Sefton check the Government’s latest guides to make sure they are operating as safely as they can, but the Council’s Environmental Health team is also keen to work with them and provide advice and help.”

Find out more about support for Sefton businesses. 

Margaret Jones, Sefton Council’s Director of Public Health has joined her colleagues from across Cheshire and Merseyside in urging people to attend appointments for their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

More than 1.4 million vaccines have already been administered in Cheshire and Merseyside with around 95 per cent of over 70s now having received their first dose. But as second dose appointments gather pace, the region’s Directors of Public Health, including Margaret are reminded people they only have maximum protection if they have both doses.

Maximum protection

She said: “I am pleased that across our region so many people, including me, have already had a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“But I can confirm that I will definitely be attending my appointment for a second dose because it is only with two doses that we have maximum protection.

“In the meantime, because I could still pick up and pass on the virus, I will be continuing to follow the guidance on distancing, wearing face covering and washing my hands as well as sticking to the Government’s lockdown regulations.”

No hesitation

Addressing concerns people may have about the AstraZeneca vaccine, Mrs Jones said: “I had the AstraZeneca vaccine with no noticeable side-effects and will have absolutely no hesitation in going to get the protection a second dose will provide. I would go tomorrow, although in fact my follow up appointment is not until June.

“I am also pleased to see that the latest YouGov survey shows that most people in the UK agree with me with 75 per cent of British respondents saying they trust the AstraZeneca jab.”

This week, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which regulates medicines in the UK, said the overall risk of developing blood clots after the AstraZeneca vaccination is just 4 in a million.

The MHRA also said vaccines have already saved thousands of lives and are the best way to protect people from COVID-19.

Immune response

Directors of Public Health in Cheshire and Merseyside confirmed some people may have experienced mild side-effects with the first dose of either vaccine but said this is a sign that it is working and triggering their immune response. And they say the possibility of feeling unwell after the second dose is much less common.

Ian Ashworth, Chair of the Cheshire and Merseyside Directors of Public Health Board and Director of Public Health for Cheshire West and Chester said: “The first dose of the vaccine offers good levels of protection, but to get maximum protection everyone will need a second dose. Even if you are vaccinated, it is essential to keep washing your hands, wearing a mask when needed and keeping your distance. Everyone has made huge sacrifices to bring the case numbers down and we want to ensure we don’t see any further rises in the future.”

The Government has reported that there will be a significant reduction in weekly vaccine supply from the beginning of April for a four-week period. The focus during this period will be on ensuring second doses of the vaccine are delivered and that no one is left behind; teams across the region are looking at innovative schemes to take the vaccine to those individuals and communities that have lower uptake of the vaccine.

Second dose

It is therefore even more important that people aged 50 and above, health and care workers, people with an underlying health condition that puts them at greater risk, and anyone called for a second dose take up the offer now.

The NHS has been inviting those eligible for a jab by letter and text with GPs also calling some patients.

Text invitations appear as an alert from ‘NHSvaccine’ and letters include a web link to click and reserve an appointment at one of more than 300 large-scale vaccination centres or pharmacies across England.

Home tests

The Directors of Public Health also urged people to continue getting tested as restrictions are eased, no matter what their vaccine status, to protect themselves and their loved ones.

Find out more about Home Testing and how to obtain Home Test Kits.

Anyone developing coronavirus symptoms should still self-isolate and immediately book a PCR test by calling 119 or visiting www.nhs.uk/coronavirus. Eligible people who test positive are entitled to the £500 Test and Trace Support Payment in the same way as a regular swab test through NHS Test and Trace.