Staffordshire councillor calls for urgent Covid task force
A Staffordshire councillor has called on the county council to assemble an urgent Covid task force.
Stone Rural County Councillor Ian Parry has called on Staffordshire County Council to set up the task force to visit pubs and restaurants around the county following the recent outbreak in Stone.
Latest rates of infection in the region:
Average number of new cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to July 31.
Figures show rate for seven days to July 31 followed by equivalent figure for the previous seven days to July 24.
Data for the most recent three days (August 1-3) has been excluded as it is incomplete and likely to be revised.
Sandwell 19.9 (65) v 29.3 (96)
Wolverhampton 15.6 (41) v 14.5 (38)
Birmingham 12.4 (142) v 13.4 (153)
Walsall 8.1 (23) v 8.1 (23)
Stafford 7.4 (10) v 2.2 (3)
Cannock Chase 7.0 (7) v 8.0 (8)
Dudley 4.7 (15) v 3.4 (11)
South Staffordshire 3.6 (4) v 6.2 (7)
Mr Parry said the impact had been significant on the town and may cause people to lose confidence in those ignoring the essential precautions needed during the current crisis.
He said: “It is clear that other hospitality venues across the county that are flaunting the rules and putting people at risk, which could create further outbreaks.
“I have written to the County Council cabinet member for health and social care to call for an urgent task force to be created.
“Public Health, Trading Standards and partners from Environmental Health need to enable visits to be made to premises causing concern to remind owners and managers of their responsibilities and provide advice where necessary.
“In extreme cases, premises that ignore the rules may also need police intervention”.
Mr Parry said an extremely urgent and robust response is now vital to protect public health and restore confidence that it is safe to visit pubs and restaurants where the necessary measures have been made.
He said: “I want to reassure people that visiting, shopping and eating in our towns like Stone is safe and I am expecting the County Council to take a lead to intervene where hospitality businesses are not being compliant.”
