The COVID-19 outbreak at the Wilkes Academy of Performing Arts is Swindon’s largest to date. It’s a stark warning to everyone living, working and visiting Swindon that coronavirus remains a clear and present danger; we cannot let our guard down.

The Council and Public Health England South West remain in regular contact with the Wilkes Academy to support them in containing the outbreak, which so far has seen 102 students and eight staff test positive. All students and staff have been in self-isolation since the Academy suspended face-to-face teaching on 12 October.

While the risk of a wider community spread of COVID-19 from this outbreak is low, it’s a reminder of just how quickly the disease can flare up. We must remain vigilant and each continue to take personal responsibility for following the guidance and taking prevention measures to protect each other.

As of 22 October, the case rate in Swindon was 68.9 cases per 100,000 compared to the average case rate across the South West region of 88.8 per 100,000 and 177.2 per 100,000 for England as a whole. However, we can’t be lulled into a false sense of security that Swindon is set to avoid reaching the ‘high’ or ‘very high’ COVID Alert Levels. That could quickly become a very real prospect if we allow complacency to set in.

We know what’s at stake. Avoiding moving to a ‘high’ or ‘very high’ COVID Alert Level means avoiding further restrictions being imposed on our lives. Restrictions that could impact on our wellbeing and mental health, as well as local jobs and the economy.

Make sure you know what you need to do to keep on protecting yourself and each other.

Swindon: It remains up to all of us.

There's nothing scarier than putting yourself and your family at unnecessary risk, that’s why this Halloween needs to be a little bit different to previous years.

We still want you to have fun, but please remember that the national guidance for Tier 1 (medium) is still in place and needs to be followed to prevent coronavirus spreading in our community. Some of the more traditional Halloween celebrations could spread COVID, so this year, please avoid:  

• Trick or treating- where sweets are shared by going door to door

• Apple Bobbing - as droplets may be exchanged

• Switching your face covering for a Halloween mask - your face covering will protect you from COVID, your Halloween mask won’t

• It’s currently illegal to host and attend any parties, indoors or outdoors with groups of more than six people. Organisers of mass gatherings could be fined £10,000 and all attendees could face a £200 penalty too.

Instead of these you could:

• Take part in one of the community scarecrow trails that have been set up around Swindon - there’s one in Redhouse and Oakhurst, as well as, Ramleaze and Shaw

• Carve or decorate a pumpkin and make pumpkin pie with the guts

• Have a scavenger hunt in your back garden for everyone in your household

• Watch a spooky movie

• Make your own Halloween decorations and sweet treats

If you leave the house, social distancing guidelines still need to be followed:

• Remember ‘Hands. Face. Space’ wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, wear a face covering indoors and stay two metres away from people you do not live with

• Keep to the ‘rule of six’ when meeting people both indoors and outdoors

• If you have COVID-19, have any of the symptoms, or have been in contact with anyone who has tested positive, you must self-isolate

If you plan to travel outside of Swindon to celebrate Halloween, make sure you have checked the alert level of the area you are visiting using this postcode checker, as restrictions could be different.

Yesterday (22 October) the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, increased financial support for businesses:

• Open businesses which are experiencing considerable difficulty will be given extra help to keep staff on, under the Job Support Scheme
• The next Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant will be doubled, and will now be worth up to £3,750

Find out what financial support you can get for your business.

From Sunday, 25 October at 4am, people arriving in the UK from the following places will no longer need to self-isolate for 14 days:

• The Canary Islands
• The Maldives
• Denmark
• Mykonos

From Sunday, 25 October at 4am, people arriving in the UK from Liechtenstein will need to self-isolate for two weeks.

Sign up to get an email alert whenever the travel corridor page is updated.

It’s easy to borrow a phone for a quick call or offer a drink to a friend without thinking, but this is an easy way to spread COVID-19 to the people you love.

When it comes to keeping yourself and others safe, think before sharing, wash your hands thoroughly before offering or taking food and encourage others to be aware too.

We are one step closer to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030, following the successful completion of our LED traffic light scheme. Sixty-seven of Swindon’s traffic light sites have been upgraded from halogen bulbs to low power environmentally friendly LEDs. The upgrades will save us more than £33,000 in energy and maintenance costs per year and reduce our annual carbon footprint by 66 tons of carbon dioxide. Read the full story on our website.

Thanks to a successful bid for government funding, Swindon will soon benefit from an additional 22 new electric vehicle charging point parking bays. The bays will be located in eight locations in the Central and Eastcott wards and will begin to be installed later this year. We hope to have them all in by March 2021 and will provide updates as the project progresses.

Our Director of Public Health, Steve Maddern, will be hosting another Facebook Live session next Thursday (29 October). If you have something you would like to ask him, leave your questions here.

Six Swindon care homes have been competing for a podium finish in Swindon’s first virtual senior Olympic games. Residents’ skills were put to the test in foam javelin heats, sit-down golf and target mat shot put. After a day of fierce competition, it was Prince Rupert Court care home who secured top spot to bring home the gold.

The Olympic games were enjoyed by all competitors and provided a welcomed boost, in what has been an incredibly challenging year.

Our Emerging Technologies Team has been working closely with our StreetSmart service to introduce some innovative new technology, to make our response to fly-tipping as efficient as possible.

This new technology will make it easier for you to report and follow fly-tipping cases - ultimately creating a cleaner Swindon. 

For their work on the project, the team were one of the top three finalists for a prestigious national award, the only government organisation to reach the finals!

Cabinet has agreed plans to build a brand new Cultural Quarter in the town centre. Members met on Wednesday night (21 October) to discuss the proposals and gave the go-ahead to the plans - which will see, among other things, a new theatre, dance centre, museum and arts hub. These are very much long term ambitions and are not going to be achieved overnight. But Cabinet approval is an important first step.

The last few months have been challenging for businesses but Swindon is bouncing back. Watch Richard Deacon, Chairman of the Old Town Business Association, share a few thoughts on some of the initiatives in place to help businesses get back on their feet.

Read more about how we’re using our powers, influence and assets to help Swindon bounce back.