Monday, March 23, 2020

County council's Monday virus update



Denbighshire County Council has announced its latest position, in light of the Coronavirus situation.

The main appeal is for people to visit the Council’s website: www.denbighshire.gov.uk as their first port of call for information and online services. This is to reduce the number of calls coming into the Council and to allow staff to deal with urgent requests.

The Council is asking people to follow health advice issued through Public Health Wales: www.phw.nhs.uk and guidance issued by Welsh Government: gov.wales.  There is information on there about social distancing and self-isolation and adhering to this is vital in the efforts to try and reduce the risk of the virus from spreading.

Below is some information about the latest council services affected:

Libraries: From Monday March 23, our Library and One Stop Shop buildings will not be open to the public. We will be changing over to an appointment only service. Further details will follow next week.  People are reminded that they can access a wealth of information and resources on the library section of the Council’s website: www.denbighshire.gov.uk/libraries

Child care for vital workers:  All schools in Denbighshire (apart from Ysgol Pendref, St Asaph VP, Ysgol Llanbedr and Ysgol Trefnant) have opened their doors today  to  provide child care for children of vital workers. School transport has been arranged. 

Free school meals:  Those children attending the vital workers child care in schools will continue to receive free school meals if they’re eligible. Any children not attending these sessions but are entitled to free school meals can call at these schools for a packed lunch.

Reception at Russell House, Rhyl: This reception has been closed until further notice. If you have any concerns about the welfare of a resident, please contact the Single Point of Access (SPOA) on 0300 456 1000.  For Out of Hours emergencies, please call 0345 053 3116 for Social Services, or 0300 123 3068 for all other services.  

Single Point of Access:  This phone system is being changed to help signpost people to the right source of information, advice and assistance.   Callers will use the existing number 0300 456 1000 but following the option to select Welsh or English but will have different options to usual.

The following information was reported last week:

Update  from Denbighshire Leisure Ltd:  Denbighshire Leisure Ltd has decided to close all of its sites until further notice.  Closures include SC2 & Ninja TAG, Rhyl Pavilion and 1891 Restaurant and Bar, NOVA Prestatyn,  all leisure centres, North Wales Bowls Centre, Ruthin Craft Centre and Café R, Rhyl Town Hall and Llangollen Pavilion.   
Denbighshire Leisure will be freezing all Direct Debit payments for fitness memberships and swimming lessons, effective immediately. They will not be making any more collections on your direct debits until further notice. Customers don't need to do anything – the service will do this on their behalf and let people know in advance when they will be restarting, once the Covid-19 situation becomes clearer.
Food Safety:  If you are a new or existing food premises offering food delivery or take away/delivery service for the first time, due to the current covid-19 situation, the Council would like to hear from you.   It is essential that you assess the risk associated with this type of food service, to ensure you keep your customers safe in relation to allergens, food safety and social distancing.  We can advise you on these matters.  Please contact the Food Team on 01824 706405 food.safety@denbighshire.gov.uk
Community Support Services:
·        Cefndy Enterprises has stopped      taking new orders and will close today (Friday). Some staff will be in      work next week to dispatch any current orders.  
·        Day & Work Opportunities      closing today (Friday) enabling staff to be redeployed as required. 
·        Dolwen Day Care closing today      (Friday) enabling staff to be redeployed as required. 
·        Additional drivers being      drafted in for the Integrated Community Equipment Services to support      hospital discharge
Housing maintenance:  As a precaution, only emergency and/or urgent repairs will be attended as a result from the 23 March 2020. Please could you only contact us during office hours on 01824 706000 or on 0300 123 30 68 out of hours if it is an emergency. To report a general repair, visit https://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/resident/housing/council-housing/request-a-council-housing-repair.aspx and we will respond to your enquiry as soon as we can.
Bulky waste collection: The Council has taken the decision to suspend all new bookings for the Bulky Waste Collection Service from Monday, 23 March, to ensure front line workers and fleet are reserved for the collection of other waste streams.  If it is possible to retain your items at home until the service resumes, please do so. Whilst our Household Waste Recycling Centres  remain open at this time, we are advising people to only use this service if it is unavoidable, due to the social distancing measures we have put in place.  The employees at the 3 Household Waste Cs are not able to assist visitors to remove their waste from their cars.
Garden Waste: The Council has taken the decision to suspend all kerbside garden waste Collection Services until further notice, to ensure front line workers and fleet are reserved for the collection of other waste streams, such as food waste and black bin/pink sack service).  The Council will extend all household subscriptions for the same number of weeks the service will be suspended.  We will be unable to process refunds for any households who have had a collection of garden waste within their collection years.   If it is possible to retain your garden waste at home outside in  your garden until the service resumes, please do so. Further guidance on “how to compost at home” will be provided on the Council website in the next few days (www.denbighshire.gov.uk)
Public Conveniences:  All public conveniences in Denbighshire will close from 5pm today until further notice.

Countryside and Heritage:   Given the current situation and advice on public gatherings, Denbighshire Countryside and Heritage Service will be implementing the following:

  • The Old Gaol and Nantclwyd y Dre Heritage attractions in Ruthin will not be opening this weekend and will remain closed to the public until further notice.

  • Plas Newydd and the onsite café in Llangollen will not be opening until further notice, but the grounds will be open.

  • Loggerheads Country Park will remain open but the visitor centre will be closed. The café remains open at this time.

  • Moel Famau Country Park will also remain open.

Libraries:
Due to low staffing levels, Ruthin Library will be closed Saturday morning March 21. The Library will open as usual on Monday.

St Asaph Library will be closed on Friday afternoon at 12pm and will re-open on Saturday morning.

Advice to businesses:  The Council’s website: http://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/business has the latest information and advice to businesses regarding coronavirus, as well as links to Business Wales and Welsh Government websites.

Archives:  The public searchroom at Denbighshire Archives in Ruthin will close from Thursday, 19th March.  Staff will be working away from the building but will answer e-mails whenever possible.  However, access to information and documents will be limited.

Exercise Referral Scheme:  This programme is being suspended until further notice. If you have any concerns or queries, please don’t hesitate to contact your local NERS Co-ordinator on 01824 712324.
Face to face service at Rhyl Job Centre:  This is being replaced by staff working from other buildings.
Countryside:  Due to the current situation with Coronavirus – Covid 19, all our publicised events will be postponed until further notice. These events include: Nature for Health sessions, Volunteer Events, public events and talks.

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