Tendring residents urged to follow lockdown rules RESIDENTS in Tendring are being urged to follow the rules during the third national Covid-19 lockdown. New restrictions were announced across England on Monday with people told to stay at home except for a few permitted reasons. People must only leave their home for specific purposes, such as getting food and medicine, medical treatment, or for work if they cannot reasonably work from home. They can only exercise once daily and there is no household mixing except for support and childcare bubbles. Schools and colleges are closed, except for vulnerable or key worker children, and all non-essential retail, hospitality and leisure venues are closed except for takeaway, delivery or click-and-collect services.
Easing the strain - Priory House A ward set up to take pressure off Southend Hospital has re-opened and is set run at full capacity by next week. Southend Council is pulling out all the stops to get the ward at Priory House ready to take 13 patients who are able to be discharged from hospital but have yet to test negative for Covid-19. The ward is currently caring for six such patients but with hospitals at breaking point it needs to double its capacity. Speaking as Essex declared a state of emergency, Neil Stock, chair of association of Essex council leaders, said: “[The situation] is caused by a combination of too many people coming into hospital and not being able to get people out quickly enough – as well as issues with staff absence.
MP blames visitors for plunging Tendring into Tier 4 CLACTON S Tory MP Giles Watling has blamed Tier 4 visitors for exporting the new strain of the virus to Tendring. The district will be plunged into the tough new tier 4 on Boxing Day along with much of the South East due to the new fast-spreading strain of the virus. The infection rate in Tendring is still one of the lowest in the county and sits at 265.4 cases per 100,000 people. An extra 424 cases were recorded in the seven days to December 23 - an increase of 105 per cent in one week. Mr Watling may also backed down from his threat to not support extending the Government s tiered Covid-19 restrictions.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the news in a press conference yesterday afternoon. The new Tier 4 rules mean people must stay at home and all but essential shops must close. Hospitality venues, such as pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants must close except for takeaway. You are only able to meet with one other person from another household in a public, outdoor space. According to the latest figures Colchester’s infection rate is now 289.2 cases per 100,000 people with 563 cases of Covid-19 confirmed in the borough between December 11 and December 18. This is up from a rate of 117.6 cases per 100,000 people in the previous week, when 229 cases were confirmed.