One day we’ll look back on our battle with Covid-19 and hopefully mark this period in late January, as a turning point.
This weekend all residents in our care homes who can receive the vaccine will have had their first jab. Then next week the mass vaccination centre at Stoneleigh will open. Across the country there are now 140 people being vaccinated every minute and locally we’re straining every resource to get us all to a safe place, as soon as possible. You can keep track by checking the weekly NHS progress reports, here.
There is much to be done before we finally emerge from this pandemic. Sadly, this week there has been no let-up in the number of local hospital admissions, with more cases reported in our younger age brackets. While infection rates have fallen from 324 to 292 cases per 100,000 residents, this is not sufficient progress for us to consider relaxing the lockdown. Please stay at home if possible, and continue to follow the guidance, to save lives.
One in three people carrying the virus do not show any symptoms. If we have to leave our homes, then we simply must act as if we have got the virus, rigorously following all the precautions. Everyone who ventures away from home, should also book regular tests at the local centre. These tests are easy, painless and take just 15 minutes, with your results back within the hour. Information on our local testing centre and how to book your appointment is available, here.
Direct support continues to be given across our communities, including to:
Businesses – Ten grant schemes are available, all with different criteria, so please visit our website to find out what is available and how to apply. Closing dates for the ARG grant for non-rated, leisure hospitality and retail businesses is next Friday 29 January and grants for wet-led pubs is at the end of this month.
Charities – We’re extending the support being given to our amazing community organisations and charities which have done so much throughout this pandemic. If you know of a charity or even a local business that has incurred additional costs to provide essential services during this time, grants of up to £3,000 are available – just visit the website to find out more.
For so many of us the opportunity to take our daily exercise is providing welcome respite from the challenges of home schooling, online meetings and the ‘new normal’. We’re fortunate to live in this beautiful, heart of England benefitting from award winning parks and public open spaces. While the ground might be muddy, the longer days and winter sunshine are giving us heart lifting glimpses of the promise of spring. Our Leisure Centres may be closed for now, so we’ve begun compiling some suggestions that you might just find takes your daily exercise to somewhere new, so please visit our website for inspiration, here.
There is much going on behind the scenes to bring forward key projects, on which we’ll report in the weeks ahead, but for now we’d like to share news of the preparations that are underway to create a comprehensive wayfinding scheme for our visitors to Royal Leamington Spa. When we’re able to once again welcome back tourists, this new scheme will provide a consistent set of displays and signs to better enable all to find their way around from various entry points. This is another key legacy project of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which starts in just 552 days’ time.
