This will be the last Champion update for 2020. Thank you all for your support in the scheme and we all wish you and yours a very happy and safe Christmas.
Sharing these newsletters
To share this newsletter on social media sites such as Facebook, please visit our COVID-19 Community Champions website www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/covid-champions where you will find links to this update and previous ones at the bottom of the page. Just copy and paste the link.
Read the MK COVID-19 Champions code of conduct here.
COVID-19 snapshot
Click here to see and print the full COVID-19 snapshot from 2 Dec.
COVID-19 in Milton Keynes
Sadly the number of cases in Milton Keynes is currently very high and accelerating rapidly, up by almost 80% over the last week with more than 800 new cases.
Although rates are rising across all ages, one of the peaks is among 11 to 18 year olds. In response we’ve secured thousands of COVID-19 home tests so local secondary schoolchildren and their families can be tested before Christmas. Our Director of Public Health Vicky Head has written to families via secondary schools to ask them to book a home test regardless of whether or not they have virus symptoms.
For the very latest on COVID-19 in Milton Keynes, download our weekly slide and watch Council Leader Pete Marland’s most recent video update.
Milton Keynes in Tier 3
Milton Keynes will move to Tier 3, very high local COVID alert level, on Saturday 19 Dec at 00:01
Click on the image to view the full PDF.
Tier 3 means:
Unless you live with them, or you have a support bubble you must not:
Meet anyone indoors
- Private homes
- Pubs and restaurant
- Any other indoor venues
Meet anyone outdoors
- In a private garden
- Most outdoor public venues
You can see friends and family you do not live with (or do not have a support bubble with) in some outdoor public places, in a group of up to 6. This limit of 6 includes children of any age.
Outdoor public places include:
- parks, beaches, countryside accessible to the public, forests
- public gardens (whether or not you pay to enter them)
- allotments
- the grounds of a heritage site
- outdoor sports courts and facilities
- playgrounds
You can continue to meet in a group larger than 6 if you are all from the same household or support bubble, or another legal exemption applies see below.
Read the full guidance here.
Get a test
If you have any one of these symptoms you must get a COVID-19 test:
- you have a high temperature
- you have a new, continuous cough
- you've lost your sense of smell or taste or it's changed
Here is the link to book a test at one of the 4 test centres in Milton Keynes
https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test
If you have a positive test you MUST self-isolate for 10 days
If you live with someone who has a positive test you MUST self-isolate for 10 days.
Self-isolate means that you MUST stay at home.
If you need help contact the Local Support Service at 01908 252398.
Christmas
The best gift we can give everyone we care about this Christmas is to keep each other safe.
The Tier 3 rules apply before and after the Christmas period (23 to 27 December)
See the Christmas guidance here.
When meeting people you do not live with, it is important to make sure that your house has good ventilation, so open as many windows as possible so that fresh air can enter.
Remember:
- Keep it small
- Keep it short
- Keep it local
MK Crime and Community Safety survey 2021
Milton Keynes Council and the Safer MK partnership is asking local people for input on what MK’s crime and community safety priorities should be.
The annual crime and community survey, which is open until 31 January 2021, will help Safer MK and its partners understand what’s important to local people about tackling crime, and informs Safer MK’s future work to make Milton Keynes a safer place to live, work and visit for everyone.
Almost 3,000 people from across Milton Keynes completed last year’s survey. Among local peoples’ priorities were tackling violent crime and raising awareness of scamming, as well as helping to inform a campaign to improve people’s knowledge of domestic violence and abuse and how to get help.
The Safer MK community safety partnership is made up representatives from Milton Keynes Council, Thames Valley Police, Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service and Her Majesty’s Probation.
Cllr Lauren Townsend, MK Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: “We’re working together to make our city a safer place to live for everyone.
“Your feedback will help shape our future work, and by getting involved we can take action on issues most affecting you. The survey is open to everyone, regardless of age, so please share your thoughts with us.”
The survey is anonymous and should only take ten minutes to complete. It’s open from 1 December 2020 until 31 January 2021, and is available online.
Click here to complete the survey.
Due to the pandemic, this year the survey will only be available online. Should you need any assistance accessing or completing it, please call 01908 691691 or email safermk@milton-keynes.gov.uk.
Useful links
See the latest Government guidance here gov.uk/coronavirus.
Find COVID-19 Information from the NHS: www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
To print and share this, please click "view it as a web page" at the top of this bulletin. This will take you to a web page with the option to print this off at the top.
To share this newsletter on social media sites such as Facebook, please visit our COVID-19 Community Champions website www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/covid-champions where you will find links to this update and previous ones at the bottom of the page. Just copy and paste the link.
Your Feedback
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Let us know how we can improve: CovidChampions@Milton-Keynes.gov.uk
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