Coronavirus - Saturday update

* Officer Delia at North Wales Police with
donations from local businesses.
Picture by Llangollen Coronavirus Help Group.

As demand grows for its services in the area the online appeal set up by Llangollen Coronavirus Help Group currently stands at £1,375 of its £2,000 target.

Yesterday, in her latest update on Facebook, group co-ordinator Cat Meade said: “This group is run by volunteers, the majority of us are all doing our own jobs working from home and assisting the community, may I ask for your patience in responding to calls, newspaper deliveries, shopping request etc.. We are all working as hard as we can to support you and your requests.

“I shall be revisiting our methods over the weekend and putting rotas in place for volunteers as the demand is growing by the hour of each day, if you wish to volunteer (mainly drivers) please email catherine@wingetts.co.uk.

“Thank you Llangollen for the incredible donations to date, today’s funds went to Llangollen Fechan Nursing Home, a box of male & female toiletries , hair curlers, brushes, sprays, tissues, sweets, crisps, puzzle books, pens tissues and cakes were delivered by our lovely Delia at North Wales Police with a beautiful donation of flowers from Stans on Berwyn St.

Please keep this operation going by donating what you can at:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/llangollen-covid-19-support-group?utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0YENQ0t613PD60Z-zaJgDm4smL4MYntALgiX40fAtbCQHPTs-x4pJHEQE

“Mike Connolly has been a huge support to this group from day 1 and to me personally, he works daily advising, supporting, delivering and checks in daily.

Our daily volunteers, too many to name but I will do a post on them soon, I fire out requests, they jump to the task. You are much appreciated.

“SHOPS - I have spoken with every store and will commend those that are supporting. Williams, Dee Valley fruit & veg, all takeaways.

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“Heart warming applause last night at 8pm, let’s keep the NHS in our thoughts.

“Next post will be Monday as I review this past week and a way forward, you will all be updated. Keep safe, stay home #llangollenfamily

Work has been carried out over the last week by Denbighshire County Council officers with input from County Councillors and City, Town and Community Councils, to pull together and map out a list of resources available during the Covid-19 outbreak across Denbighshire.

You can find the list at www.denbighshire.gov.uk/communityresources

The list contains information about local emerging groups and businesses across Denbighshire offering support across including information about food deliveries, grocery services and support services. As well as community based information it also contains links to a variety of support agencies and networks which operate locally, regionally and nationally.

The county council says: “Please share this widely with your friends, relatives, neighbours and community.

“We are aware that the Excel spreadsheet may not be accessible to all and not easy to access by mobile devices. Officers are exploring alternative ways of sharing this information with our communities and this will be updated and shared soon.

“This list of key information will be updated on a regular basis and should you have any information or links that you feel would be useful to residents please email community.development@denbighshire.gov.uk.

New police enforcement powers have been granted by the UK and Welsh Government yesterday (Thursday 26 March), to help reduce the spread of coronavirus, protect the NHS and save lives.

From now on if members of the public do not comply with government advice to stay at home and avoid non-essential travel, North Wales Police officers may:

·        Directed to return home or removed from where they are and returned home

·        Issue a fixed penalty notice of £30, which if not paid within 14 days will double to £60

·        If they are issued with a second or subsequent notice the charge will be £120

Individuals who do not pay a fixed penalty notice under the regulations could be taken to court, with magistrates able to impose unlimited fines.

If an individual continues to refuse to comply, they will be acting unlawfully, and the police may arrest them where deemed proportionate and necessary.

However, in the first instance the police will always apply their common sense and discretion and seek to Engage, Explain and Encourage. Where individuals refuse to comply, or repeatedly breach the legislation, our officers are ready to enforce the regulations as the public would expect us to do.

North Wales Chief Constable Carl Foulkes said: “This is a public health emergency and compliance with these measures is considered necessary to achieve the objective of effective social distancing. 

“We have all heard the scientific advice which clearly states this will slow the spread of the virus and save people’s lives.

“These new powers will support my officers in dealing with those that have not yet fully understood the gravity of the situation. The Government has been clear that it expects people to do the right thing in order to protect the NHS and save lives.

“Disappointingly we saw a large influx of visitors to North Wales last weekend, however with the caravan and camping sites now closed we hope people will continue to adhere to the messages and stay away. We urge anyone who may be considering visiting North Wales to think again.

“Maintaining the best service to the public, protecting our officers and staff, and supporting the nationwide response are our top priorities.

“We urge self-compliance within all of North Wales’ communities. Officers and staff will encourage everyone to do so, remind those who we see in public who we believe may not be following them to do so, and only resort to enforcement action as a last resort.

“We’re in this together and each and every one of us has a role to play by following government advice. The vast majority are following the advice, and we thank them for listening.

“It’s at times like this we see the very best of community spirit and partnership working and I’d like to thank all those, including our officers and staff going above and beyond the call of duty, who are working as one to respond to this situation.”

Individuals will only be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes:

·        Shopping for basic necessities and supplies, which should be as infrequently as possible

·        One form of exercise a day - for example, a run, walk or cycle - alone or with members of their household

·        Any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person, and

·        Travelling to and from work, but only where they cannot reasonably practicably work from home.

Members of the public should continue to call 999 in an emergency where a crime is in progress or there is a threat to life.

If your call is not urgent, we would urge people to make use of our online reporting service or webchat facility wherever possible, in order to release the pressure on our emergency lines and resources.

If you are seeking advice around COVID-19 and what it means for you, please visit the UK Government or Welsh Government website in the first instance. This will enable our call takers and officers to focus purely on policing matters and ensure resources are being utilised effectively.

For the latest health advice please visit Public Health Wales

On Facebook yesterday Clwyd South MP Simon Baynes posted a message urging people to act responsibly if they are able to leave the house to exercise or walk their dog.

He said: “Remember it is lambing season, avoid farms wherever possible, especially fields with livestock and keep your dog under control.”

And he posted a copy of the leaflet below to illustrate his point:

Denbighshire Countryside Service and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty posted a message which said: “Following the UK Government’s most recent announcements and followed up with new powers from Welsh Government, Denbighshire County Council have taken the following Action.

“The busiest sites in the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB will be closed to the public. There will be no access to these areas until further notice, this includes Moel Famau Country Park and Coed Moel Famau, Loggerheads Country Park, Llangwyfan Forest and Pen y Cloddiau, Coed Nercwys and Horseshoe Falls.

“In co-operation with Natural Resources Wales we have closed all our main countryside car parks.

There will be no parking available for access to the most popular sites in the AONB. Please only walk in areas close to your home.

“We have taken these steps to help reduce the spread of the virus, to protect the NHS and to save lives. Please help by staying at home.

“Our Information Centre at Loggerheads Country Park is closed until further notice. We have set up a remote enquiry system – the public can contact 01824 712757 or email loggerheads.countrypark@denbighshire.gov.uk with visitor enquiries for all areas.”

Locally, Davies Brothers builders posted yesterday: “Due to the unprecedented situation regarding COVID-19, Davies Brothers have been forced into the decision of suspending all of our works as of the 27th of March 2020, as of now our current target date to resume works is Monday 20th of April 2020, although we realise there is a lot of uncertainty at this time.

“This decision comes with deep regret as we realise the implications this will have on both our employees and our subcontractors."