Coronavirus: Shropshire residents urged to follow the ‘rule of six’ to help avoid local lockdown
As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase, the county’s Director of Public Health is strongly advising people to follow the limit contact with people outside of their household bubble.
Shropshire is at critical point in the battle against COVID-19. As of yesterday (19/10/2019) Public Health England put Shropshire’s case rate at 90.4 per 100,000.
Shropshire Council is pleading with residents to keep their distance from anyone they do not live with, except for close friends or family who are part of their support bubble.
Under Shropshire’s current restrictions, no more than six people can gather together – either indoors or outdoors. People should also follow social distancing (2 metres apart where possible), when meeting.
If it is not possible to observe the 2m distance indoors, people should follow other measures designed to keep them safe, such as wearing face coverings, opening windows and doors to increase ventilation or moving outdoors.
Rachel Robinson, Shropshire’s Director of Public Health said:
“This year has been incredibly difficult for everyone in Shropshire and we appreciate all the sacrifices that our residents and businesses have made to help protect each other.
“However, I cannot stress enough that community household transmission is a large factor in spreading the virus. If we are mixing indoors with up to six people, we are at risk.
“Over the past few weeks, we have seen a sharp increase in the number of household transmissions. It’s understandable that people want to mix and socialise with friends and family after being deprived of this during lockdown.
“There is a sense that people are becoming complacent when meeting at home. We still need to keep 2 metres apart from people that are not in our household bubble.
“We all need to protect ourselves and each other.
“We are on the brink of having tougher restriction imposed on us. I am urging all residents to act now and limit their contact with one they do not live with, except for close friends or family who are part of their support bubble.
“I truly believe that if people take this advice on board, it will help us reduce our rates of infection.”
Dean Carroll, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for adult social care, public health and climate change, said:
“The news that rates have continued to rise sharply in Shropshire means there is absolutely no room for complacency.
“Every social interaction is the opportunity for the virus to infect and spread. We know it’s extremely difficult, but we ask residents to be extra cautious by limiting the number of people we’re in contact with socially.
“Please keep to 2m apart from people outside your bubble. It may be tempting to let your guard down, especially when meeting in the comfort of your own home, but household infections are huge contributing factor to our rising case rate.”
