Councils issue high-risk category warning

Royal Borough: Council issues warning as COVID-19 cases continue to rise

Both Royal Borough and Slough residents have been warned they are close to being moved into the high-risk COVID-19 category under the new tier system introduced this week.

The Royal Borough is ‘dangerously close’ to being moved into the high-risk COVID-19 category, the council leader has warned.

Following the announcement from the Prime Minister about the new threetiered COVID risk system being put in place, the council leader, Councillor Andrew Johnson (Con, Hurley and Walthams) has issued a statement to the public.

Windsor and Maidenhead is in the ‘medium risk’ category, meaning the restrictions and guidelines that were already in place nationally remain in place.

However, Cllr Johnson warned that the Royal Borough’s risk level could be increased if cases continue to rise.

He said: “The number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population is rising in the borough and we are dangerously close to being moved into the high-risk category if numbers continue to triple as they have done.

“This would mean further restrictions which would impact on our freedoms, our community and the local economy.”

The total number of COVID-19 cases that have been confirmed in the Royal Borough since the outbreak began is 941, according to Government data, equating to 621.4 cases per 100,000 population.

In the first seven days of October, 122 new cases were registered, compared to 214 in the whole of September and 83 in August.

According to Councillor Stuart Carroll (Con, Boyn Hill) cabinet member for health, now is the time for the people who have been ‘lax or forgetful’ to take the guidance more seriously.

He said: “The majority of people are complying and adhering to the guidance, but this is not about those people that have been doing the right thing, it’s the people who have maybe been a bit lax or flippant, a bit forgetful, and those people who have been careless and quite reckless.

“We need to hold those people to account.”

As well as abiding by the guidance like the rule of six, he said it is also critical for all residents to remember to wash their hands thoroughly for 20 seconds, wear a mask as much as possible when out and about, and keep at least two metres apart from people that are not in their household or bubble.

According to Cllr Carroll, people need to remember that these rules still apply when visiting a different household, with the risk of transmission present even in a familiar environment.

He also criticised the ‘lamentable and disgraceful’ incidents where some parents in the borough have sent children to school after they have tested positive for the virus.

Cllr Carroll said: “We have had enough isolated examples of parents doing that, we have really got to emphasise the risk and danger that can put others in.

“They should have been isolating and quarantining, it’s utterly lamentable and disg raceful.”