Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent moves into Very High Alert Level

Chief Constable Gareth Morgan is encouraging people to continue to work together and follow the restrictions to bring the number of Covid-19 cases down, as Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent moved into the Very High Alert Level (Tier 3) today.

The Very High Alert Level means:

• No mixing socially anywhere indoors with anyone you do not live with, unless part of your support bubble
• Up to six people can meet in some outdoor public places including parks, countryside and playgrounds
• Hospitality such as pubs and restaurants must stay shut, apart for takeaway and drive-through services
• Gyms and non-essential shops can reopen
• Work from home if you can, avoid non-essential travel and no overnight stays outside the area.

Officers will continue to use the approach which has served the force and local communities well since the start of the pandemic with a focus on engaging, explaining and encouraging people to comply with the rules, but officers will not hesitate to use enforcement and issue a fine if people deliberately ignore the rules.

Chief Constable Gareth Morgan said:

“Since the national restrictions came into effect last month, there has been lots of hard work across the county to bring cases down and the force has stepped up patrols and worked closely with partners to ensure high levels of compliance with the rules. Most people have followed these closely and made personal sacrifices to do so and this has brought down the number of cases which is really encouraging, although these are still above the regional and England average.

“The challenge now is to maintain the progress which has been made so it is important that we all redouble our efforts and follow the rules to continue to bring cases down. Thank you again to the vast majority of people who are doing this and making sacrifices to play their part in bringing the virus under control so we can all return to a more normal way of life.”

Full details of the Very High Alert level restrictions can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tier-3-very-high-alert