Staying away - to save lives
Normally bustling town centres in Perth and Kinross were silent this week as the region came together to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Thousands of people in the region went in to lockdown on Monday night as the world battles the spread of COVID-19.
NHS Tayside has implemented a gold, silver and bronze command and control structure, a local resilience partnership system with council colleagues, and co-ordinated escalation-based mobilisation plans to deal with the crisis.
The commands are operating on a daily basis, whilst the local resilience partnerships are meeting on a weekly basis.
The details were outlined in NHS Tayside’s board papers which were published yesterday, whilst the board met in private at Ninewells Hospital with the press and public excluded due to public health reasons.
The health board has hastily created a COVID-19 “hospital within a hospital” in the far end of Ninewells Hospital in its East Block.
NHS Tayside says it has identified a specific area of the hospital comprising some 299 beds for COVID-19 patients.
It has also doubled its Intensive Therapy Unit Beds at both Ninewells and Perth Royal Infirmary.
Meanwhile, shoppers across Perth and Kinross have been warned they are putting lives at risk by treating a shopping trip as a “little day out”.
Shopping trips are allowed despite the lockdown, but only sparingly and for essentials.
One woman, who works in a Perth Tesco, posted a heartfelt appeal on Facebook for wiser coronavirus precautions: “To everyone that’s bringing in their kids for a little day out at Tesco or any supermarket, to anyone that is coming down cause they have nothing else to do during this lock down, to anyone that is coming down to my work for anything apart from the essentials.
“Please I am begging you, please only come if you need to. You need to understand we are all now putting our lives at risk for everyone.
“I’m lucky that I’m young and if something happens to me then my body can fight this off, but other colleagues won’t be so lucky as me.
“Not just that, but I don’t want to put my family at risk, my parents immune systems aren’t as strong as mine. Please think of the bigger picture right now; you need to think about us and what we’re doing for you.
“I’m sorry if that makes me selfish but I had to remind people, we are putting our lives at risk to make sure you are fed.
“And to people that are saying supermarkets need to do more, we are all trying our best. People are working endlessly to make sure that you get what you need, the checkout team are trying their best with social distances and managers are doing everything they can to make sure it all works accordingly.
“Please only come to supermarkets if you need to get something essential. If you don’t, please stay at home. We are now in the frontline. Please, stay home and wait for this all to blow over.
“We are trying our best. Please listen to us and keep us safe as well as you.”
The majority of shoppers have been spotted observing the rules and keeping a safe distance, although they did need to contend with the Tesco on Perth’s Crieff Road closing for a period on Wednesday after a burst water main.
An appeal has also been made for healthy shoppers to