We must stay alert. We must continue to control the virus and save lives.

Thanks to the sacrifice and resilience of the British people that we have succeeded in slowing the spread of coronavirus. The death rate and hospital admissions are coming down, and we have protected the NHS and saved many thousands of lives.

What to do if you have a possible coronavirus (COVID-19) infection:

The symptoms are as follows:

• a high temperature
• a new, continuous cough

Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.

You do not need to contact 111 to tell them you're staying at home.

You should only use the NHS 111 online coronavirus service if:

• you feel you cannot cope with your symptoms at home
• your condition gets worse
• your symptoms do not get better after 7 days

If you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus illness (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started.

If you, or anyone in your household, has either a high temperature or a new and continuous cough, then you should stay at home for fourteen days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill

It is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already. Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community

That means that if possible, you should not go out even to buy food or essentials, other than for exercise, and in that case at a safe distance from others. If necessary, you should ask for help from others for your daily necessities. If that is not possible, then you should do what you can to limit your social contact when you leave the house to get supplies.

If you receive support from health and social care organisations, for example if you have care provided for you through the local authority or health care system, this will continue as normal. Your health or social care provider will be asked to take additional precautions to make sure that you are protected.

For more information about staying at home please click here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance

Can I re-open my business? 

As an office we are not qualified to give individual business, legal or financial advice.

Businesses will be required to read the latest government guidance and apply it to their business. 

If you are not sure where to find the relevant guidance please get in touch and a member of the team will be able to point you in the right direction. 

The latest government guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-businesses-and-premi…

If you have read the relevant guidance and are still unsure if you can or should re-open, we recommend that you speak to your industry body for advice.

Alternatively, Tewkesbury Borough Council have set up a team to support businesses wishing to re-open. They can be contacted on 01684 272195 or via email at eh.enquiries@tewkesbury.gov.uk. 

Support for Business

I understand that this is a worrying time for business owners but please be assured that the government are at the forefront of the effort to back business, to back our economy and to make sure that we get through this. The Chancellor has set out a package of timely and targeted measures to support businesses through this period of disruption caused by COVID-19. If you have not already, I would recommend reading the government’s latest guidance for business in relation to COVID-19 This offers advice on:

• Support for businesses who are paying sick pay to employees
• Support for businesses who pay business rates
• Support for businesses who pay little or no business rates
• Support for businesses through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
• Support for businesses paying tax
• Insurance

More information for businesses can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19

If you are concerned about being able to pay your tax due to COVID-19, call HMRC’s dedicated helpline on 0800 0159 559.

The Government has launched a new ‘support finder’ tool which will help businesses and self-employed people across the UK to quickly and easily determine what financial support is available to them.  For more details, please visit this link: https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder 

Most grants will be made available through the local authority so I would recommend contacting your local authority to find out how to apply.

If you are still unsure how this will benefit your business, I would recommend that you contact the Business Support Line  (https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support). They will be able to look at your personal situation and talk through what you would be entitled to. They are the experts so will be best placed to answer any questions you may have. As an office we are unable to give legal or financial advice. 

Throughout this time, I am available as your Member of Parliament to help with any issues so please don't hesitate to get in contact if there is anything I can do to help.

For the most up to date information about COVID-19 please visit: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus