Subject: Please be aware that Suffolk has become a COVID ‘enhanced response area’
From Monday 1 November, Suffolk becomes an ‘enhanced response area’ (ERA) for up to five weeks. This approach has already been used in other parts of the country to help reduce the rate of Covid-19 transmission within the community and is also being taken in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough at the same time.
The additional support will include:
- Support for the vaccination efforts by extending opening hours and creating pop up vaccination clinic within our communities
- Help to coordinate on the ground door knocking campaign
- Help to reduce transmission in schools with increased testing and additional temporary powers
- Funding for COVID-19 awareness raising communications and advertising.
To help reduce the spread, residents in Suffolk are now being encouraged to:
- Get fully vaccinated and your booster when it’s due
- Wash your hands regularly with soap and water
- Always wear a face covering in crowded areas
- Ventilate indoor spaces
- Get tested regularly and stay at home if you feel unwell.
It’s the latest move to slow the spread of virus which has made a particular impact among Suffolk’s school age children and, consequently, their parents and grandparents. Earlier this month, additional measures, including siblings of children with COVID self-isolating, restrictions on visits to schools and older children and adults wearing face masks, were reintroduced. The face mask policy started on Monday 1 November.
This does not, however, mean any additional restrictions on people’s movements or actions. It is not a lockdown or like the tiering system that was trialled in England in 2020. Instead, it will boost the county’s ability to raise awareness, tackle outbreaks and encourage people to get vaccinated.
For further information
See the national website: Overview – Coronavirus Resource centre (phe.gov.uk)
Suffolk website: Suffolk becomes Covid ‘Enhanced Response Area’ » Babergh Mid Suffolk