Dear Residents
Staffordshire County Council have provided the following update:
In response to the emergence of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19m and the identification of cases of the variant in the UK, a range of temporary measures to protect public health and prevent transmission of the virus are being implemented from 0400hrs on Tuesday, 30th November 2021.
These measures include:
o Face coverings will be compulsory in shops and other settings such as banks, post offices and hairdressers, as well as on public transport unless individuals are exempt from doing so; but pubs and restaurants are exempt.
o All contacts of suspected Omicron cases must self-isolate for ten days, regardless of whether they are fully vaccinated
o Everyone entering the UK (other than those coming from the Common Travel Area that covers the Channel Islands and Ireland) will have to take a PCR test by the end of the second day after their arrival and self-isolate until they receive a negative result.
o These PCR tests can be purchased from private providers. Free NHS tests are not valid for this purpose.
o Ten countries – South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, and Zambia – are now on the UK’s travel red list, meaning that until further notice any British or Irish residents arriving in the UK after recently visiting any of those countries will have to quarantine in an approved hotel for 10 days.
o Residents from the countries themselves will not be allowed into the UK until the red list status changes.
- The prime minister, Rt. Hon Boris Johnson MP has stated that the measures are temporary and precautionary.
- He also stated that they would be reviewed in three weeks, just before most schools break up for the Christmas holidays.
- In addition, the Covid-19 vaccination scheme is being expanded to include the provision of ‘booster’ jabs to all those over 18
- The administration of a second dose of a Covid-19 vaccination to those aged 12-17 is also being considered.
- The government has stopped short of issuing advice to work from home and extending vaccine passports in England, which are part of its Plan B for winter – a contingency plan if intervention on Covid is needed to protect the NHS.
- Further information will be shared with you in the event of any additional measures being introduced or changes to the existing regulations.
For further information please see: