Covid 19 Government update
The New Government slogan is: Stay Alert. Control the Virus. Save Lives.
I would add: Be sensible. Trust your own judgmentally. Don’t put yourself unnecessarily at risk.
It is clear from the Prime Minister’s statement tonight that the path forward is fraught with difficulties and very much a ‘conditional plan’ which will be influenced by our ability to reduce the ‘R’ rate of infection.
The central message was the recognition that the country needs to get back to work and that there is to be some relaxing of the recreational rules- providing social distancing measures are maintained.
From Wednesday we are all allowed to take unlimited outdoor exercise, to sit in a local park and even drive to places to do this. We will also be allowed to play sport but only with members of our own family and provided we maintain the social distancing rules from other people.
From a village point of view, we will remove the signs requesting people from outside the village not to use the pond path walk. We will also be seeking guidance from Cherwell Council as to when they will allow the re-opening of the village playground and what rules will need to be applied. When we know, we will let you know immediately.
It is still going to be very much incumbent on all of us to exercise great caution in order to ensure that the self-sacrifice we have all made in our day-to-day life is not undone over night.
International Nursing Day
The public is being asked to “shine a light” in their window this coming Tuesday 12th May at 8.30pm, in a similar way that we show our gratitude to the wider NHS with Clap for Carers, every Thursday evening at 8pm.
The World Health Organisation designated 2020 as International Year of the Nurse to mark the bicentenary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. So this year it is specifically to recognise the efforts of nursing professionals around the world as they help to tackle coronavirus.
A Big Shout-out for all the Volunteers in Stratton Audley
It is now seven weeks since the official announcement of the Lockdown when we circulated details of our local response to Covid 19.
Part of our response was to organise a parish-wide volunteer list and to commit to keeping everyone informed. This is just to acknowledge that many people on this list have been regularly helping others in the community in particular with shopping and it is to their credit that this is done willingly and silently. In a sense the volunteers on this list have supplemented the generous spirit of what already existed between many neighbours and we are indeed fortunate to live in this community.