Swindon Borough Council

Yesterday (26 Nov), the Government announced which of three COVID-19 alert tiers Swindon had been allocated to.

Like most areas in the South West region, Swindon has been allocated to the ‘High Alert’ Tier 2 level. This applies to areas with a higher or rapidly rising level of infection, where some additional restrictions need to be in place.

How you can help

This email includes information for our residents, including the latest guidance, links to council services and details of support available, as well as information on the launch of our new campaign. Please help us support our community through this challenging time by reading and sharing the below information.

We will continue to share key information and guidance on our Facebook and Twitter pages, so please share or retweet this where possible.

We will also continue to keep our website up to date as a useful source of information, so please refer anyone needing support or guidance to the information on those pages.

Sharing government guidance around Tier 2 restrictions

While lockdown will end at 00:01 on Wednesday, 2 December, we must continue to work together to get our case numbers down, protect our local health services and keep each other safe.

We would very much appreciate your support in helping people understand what they need to do by sharing the guidance and encouraging people to play their part.

The Tier 2 restrictions require the following:

Meeting friends and family

  • you must not socialise with anyone you do not live with or who is not in your support bubble in any indoor setting, whether at home or in a public place
  • you must not socialise in a group of more than six people outside, including in a garden or a public space – this is called the ‘rule of 6’

Businesses and venues

  • businesses and venues can continue to operate, in a COVID-Secure manner, other than those which remain closed by law, such as nightclubs
  • pubs and bars must close, unless operating as restaurants. Hospitality venues can only serve alcohol with substantial meals
  • hospitality businesses selling food or drink for consumption on their premises are required to:
    • provide table service only, in premises which sell alcohol
    • close between 11pm and 5am (hospitality venues in airports, ports, transport services and motorway service areas are exempt)
    • stop taking orders after 10pm
  • hospitality businesses and venues selling food and drink for consumption off the premises can continue to do so after 10pm as long as this is through delivery service, click-and-collect or drive-through
  • early closure (11pm) applies to casinos, cinemas, theatres, museums, bowling alleys, amusement arcades, funfairs, theme parks, adventure parks and activities, and bingo halls. Cinemas, theatres and concert halls can stay open beyond 11pm in order to conclude performances that start before 10pm

Attendance at events

  • public attendance at outdoor and indoor events (performances and shows) is permitted, limited to whichever is lower: 50 per cent capacity, or either 2,000 people outdoors or 1,000 people indoors
  • public attendance at spectator sport and business events can resume inside and outside, subject to social contact rules and limited to whichever is lower: 50 per cent capacity, or either 2,000 people outdoors or 1,000 people indoors
  • places of worship remain open but you must not socialise with people from outside of your household or support bubble while you are indoors there, unless a legal exemption applies
  • organised outdoor sport, physical activity and exercise classes can continue
  • organised indoor sport, physical activity and exercise classes will only be permitted if it is possible for people to avoid mixing with people they do not live with (or share a support bubble with). There are exceptions for indoor disability sport, sport for educational purposes and supervised sport and physical activity for under-18s, which can take place with larger groups mixing

You can read more here. 

You can download graphics and images for the national campaign here for use on your channels.

Let's do it for our GWH

As we continue to see coronavirus cases in our community, admissions to Great Western Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are increasing.

During the pandemic, hospital staff have worked tirelessly to support the influx of additional patients, with non-COVID wards being converted to COVID wards to support the increasing numbers of patients. Over 600 people have been treated for COVID-19 at the GWH since the pandemic began.

Today, as part of our wider ‘Swindon: It’s up to all of us’ campaign, we have launched a smaller partnership campaign titled ‘Let’s do it for our GWH’, to urge residents to follow coronavirus guidance, to protect not only themselves, but also our local hospital.

It is crucial we share this message with residents so they understand that our local health services are at risk if our case numbers are allowed to increase and that we can all help our hospital by following the guidance.

Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing content across our social media channels, in our newsletters and on our website, and would really appreciate your support in sharing this message with residents however you can. 

It’s up to all of us to play our part in limiting the spread of coronavirus in our community and prevent overwhelming our NHS.

Let’s do it for our GWH.

Council services

Check our website for the current status of council services.

Some services may change in the coming week as we come out of lockdown and we will communicate this on our website and through social media.

Support continues to be available to our residents who need it. Visit the help and support page on our website for more information on all the support and services available, including financial and mental health support.

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