This week the Government confirmed its plans for lifting the remaining Covid-19 restrictions on 19 July but emphasised the need to proceed slowly and with caution. 

Despite the announcement that most legal restrictions will be removed, the pandemic is far from over. In South Gloucestershire, our community infection rates continue to rise and there has been an increase in the number of hospitalisations from Covid-19. The council is urging extreme caution and advising residents to continue to:

• Come forward when invited for both doses of the vaccine
• Wear a face covering in enclosed and crowded spaces where you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet or where it will make you and others feel more comfortable
• Try to meet outdoors or in well-ventilated indoor areas
• Self-isolate and get a PCR test if you have symptoms
• Self-isolate if you test positive or are told to do so by NHS Test and Trace. This remains a legal requirement
• Take a regular rapid test twice a week if you don’t have symptoms. Wash your hands with soap and water or use hand sanitiser regularly throughout the day
• Cover your nose and mouth when you cough and sneeze
• Stay at home if you are unwell, to reduce the risk of passing any illnesses onto friends, family, colleagues, and others in your community
• Be kind, courteous and considerate of others – take into account not only your own risks, but also of those around you, such as those with clinical vulnerabilities.

The council says: “We have all been impacted in so many different ways and it is as important as ever that we work together to keep the virus under control, with everybody following the guidance and taking action to protect themselves and to protect others.”

“Thank you for your efforts to keep yourselves and others safe over the past 18 months. We hope you are looking forward to the summer and being able to meet socially with friends and family albeit in a cautious, safe and responsible way.”