“The decisions you make will count” as Council Leader & Chief Executive warn we don’t want Caerphilly style local lockdown here

There has been a strong appeal this afternoon from leadership at Wrexham Council for Wrexham not to follow Caerphilly into a local lockdown.

The move follows a similar warning from Public Health Wales that highlights lack of social distancing as a cause of suspected community transmission further south.

Councillor Mark Pritchard, Leader of Wrexham Council, said: “If we don’t all do our bit, we could go backwards very quickly and find ourselves dealing with a second wave. If it got bad enough, we could lose some of our freedoms again and the local lockdown in Caerphilly illustrates this.

“But more importantly, more people could lose their lives.

“So don’t make this the autumn of regret. Stick to social distancing, and help keep Wrexham safe.”

“The decisions you make will count.”

The council says there is a concern that some people don’t feel too worried about Covid-19 anymore, and they’ve forgotten how serious the pandemic is. Wrexham Council’s Chief Executive, Ian Bancroft, says: “It’s possible that some people are getting bored or frustrated with all the rules, and they feel like they’re healthy enough to cope if they catch it.

“But nobody is invincible, and they could pass on the disease to other people…including friends, parents and grandparents. So please don’t take unnecessary risks. Help keep the people you love safe. Help keep everyone safe.”

In a statement earlier today Public Health Wales have pointed to lack of social distancing by people of all age groups for issues starting to surface in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf: “We are concerned at the significant rise in positive coronavirus cases in the Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf areas over the past few days, and our investigations indicate that a lack of social distancing by people of all age groups in a range of different locations has resulted in the spread of the virus to other parts of the population.

“It appears that as lockdown restrictions have eased, people have taken advantage of the greater possibilities for activities, but they seem to have forgotten the importance of social distancing – resulting in possible transmission in the wider community.

“It is clear that the virus spreads more easily in indoor settings, and people should take extra care to socially distance in these cases to keep themselves and their friends and families as safe as possible.”

As a result temporary testing centres are being setup in those locations, similar to what was setup in Wrexham and has been seen more recently in Caerphilly. In both Wrexham and Caerphilly more testing took place, and thankfully locally that did not find more cases. Caerphilly’s results contributed to the decision to introduce a so called ‘local lockdown’ of extra measures.

Cllr Pritchard added: “Keep your chances of catching or transmitting the virus as low as possible. Keep apart whenever you can.

“That friendly arm around the shoulder or pat on the back with friends or colleagues? Don’t do it. It might seem harmless, but it could help spread the disease…and someone, somewhere, could pay the price.”

Earlier this week in the lunchtime Welsh Government briefing Health Minister Vaughan Gething shared an example of how easily the virus can spread. It’s a reminder of how vigilant we all need to be…

“I want to share this example with you from the last few weeks. A group of friends returned from a short holiday in Ibiza last month – three of them came home with coronavirus.

“When they came home, one of the group passed the virus on to their partner and his father. Another person in the group had a party the day after coming home and four people caught coronavirus.

“One of these then passed the virus on to their brother who then passed it to a friend by sharing a car. Another party guest passed it on to their sister, who in turn infected a friend on a night out.

“Within just a few days of the friends’ return home, 13 people had coronavirus.”