A letter from Cllr Phillipa Marsden and guidelines for Isolation.

An open letter to residents and businesses across the Caerphilly county borough:

With Halloween and Bonfire night fast approaching, it feels very much like Winter is just around the corner.

Unfortunately, this time of year also brings with it flu season and additional winter pressures on our NHS and council services, which are already under huge strain due to the ongoing covid pandemic.

It is so important that we all remain vigilant and understand that coronavirus has not gone away. It remains a real threat to the lives of many people in our community, so now is not the time to be complacent.

I appreciate that we are all weary with the restrictions and disruption caused by the pandemic over the past 18 months. However, it is important to recognise that the impact of coronavirus on some of our most vulnerable citizens is still very serious.

It’s true that the vaccination programme has been a huge success and it has definitely reduced the link between positive cases, hospitalisation and serious illness.

This is thanks to your amazing collective effort to get as many people as possible double jabbed. I would like to thank all those who have received their vaccinations in such a timely manner.

Our focus is now shifting to the booster vaccination programme and getting more young people double jabbed to further reduce the number of positive cases.

I fully recognise that the coming months are going to be very difficult as we navigate our way through the Winter. We are already seeing the number of positive cases rise to worrying levels in some parts of Wales and I fear this is likely to increase further unless we all do our bit to tackle this deadly virus.

Please continue to follow Welsh Government advice and adhere to all relevant restrictions. Keep wearing your masks and maintain social distancing as much as you can. Please continue to work from home if possible and take positive steps to protect yourselves and others in everything you do.

We will get through this, but we may have a bumpy few months ahead, so let’s look after ourselves, look after our loved ones and look after the best interests of the whole community.

Thank You

Cllr Philippa Marsden

Leader of Council