KCC is keeping its nine country parks open - in line with the latest guidance outlined by the Prime Minister last evening (Monday 23rd) - but the car parks will be closed.
A spokesman said:
“We agree with the government view, that parks are an important community facility and can be the ideal venue for personal exercise.
However, in an effort to keep the numbers manageable and to facilitate the required social distancing, we are closing our car parks. We will continue to welcome visitors who arrive on foot or on horseback.
We will continue to monitor the number and behaviour of visitors to ensure that the government’s guidelines are adhered to.”
Murray Evans
Kent County Council
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that everyone must now stay at home except in exceptional circumstances, to protect our NHS and save lives.
Special Brief: Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives
Stay at home
You must stay at home, only leaving for the following very limited purposes:
• Shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible.
• One form of exercise a day – for example, a run, walk or cycle – alone or with members of your immediate household.
• Any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person.
• Travelling to and from work, but only where this absolutely cannot be done from home.
Protect the NHS
You must stay at home to protect the NHS:
• The NHS only has a limited number of doctors, nurses and specialist equipment.
• We are working around the clock to increase NHS capacity.
• The more people who get sick, the harder it is for the NHS to cope.
• We must slow the spread of the disease so that fewer people are sick at any one time.
Save lives
You must stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives:
• Police will disperse gatherings of more than two people in public, excluding people you live with.
• Police will issue fines to anyone who does not comply with these rules.
• Police will close all shops that are not essential, as well as playgrounds and places of worship.
The Prime Minister’s Address to the Nation
“The coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for decades – and this country is not alone.
All over the world we are seeing the devastating impact of this invisible killer
And so tonight I want to update you on the latest steps we are taking to fight the disease and what you can do to help.
And I want to begin by reminding you why the UK has been taking the approach that we have.
Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there won’t be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses.
And as we have seen elsewhere, in other countries that also have fantastic health care systems, that is the moment of real danger.
To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it - meaning more people are likely to die, not just from Coronavirus but from other illnesses as well.
So it’s vital to slow the spread of the disease.
Because that is the way we reduce the number of people needing hospital treatment at any one time, so we can protect the NHS’s ability to cope - and save more lives.
And that’s why we have been asking people to stay at home during this pandemic.
And though huge numbers are complying – and I thank you all - the time has now come for us all to do more.
From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction - you must stay at home.
Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households.
That is why people will only be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes:
• shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible
• one form of exercise a day - for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household;
• any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person; and
• travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.
That’s all - these are the only reasons you should leave your home.
You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say No.
You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.
You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine — and you should do this as little as you can. And use food delivery services where you can.
If you don’t follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings.
To ensure compliance with the Government’s instruction to stay at home, we will immediately:
• close all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship;
• we will stop all gatherings of more than two people in public – excluding people you live with;
• and we’ll stop all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals.
Parks will remain open for exercise but gatherings will be dispersed.
No Prime Minister wants to enact measures like this.
I know the damage that this disruption is doing and will do to people’s lives, to their businesses and to their jobs.
And that’s why we have produced a huge and unprecedented programme of support both for workers and for business.
And I can assure you that we will keep these restrictions under constant review. We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to.
But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost.
And yet it is also true that there is a clear way through.
Day by day we are strengthening our amazing NHS with 7500 former clinicians now coming back to the service.
With the time you buy – by simply staying at home - we are increasing our stocks of equipment.
We are accelerating our search for treatments.
We are pioneering work on a vaccine.
And we are buying millions of testing kits that will enable us to turn the tide on this invisible killer.
I want to thank everyone who is working flat out to beat the virus.
Everyone from the supermarket staff to the transport workers to the carers to the nurses and doctors on the frontline.
But in this fight we can be in no doubt that each and every one of us is directly enlisted.
Each and every one of us is now obliged to join together.
To halt the spread of this disease.
To protect our NHS and to save many many thousands of lives.
And I know that as they have in the past so many times.
The people of this country will rise to that challenge.
And we will come through it stronger than ever.
We will beat the coronavirus and we will beat it together.
And therefore I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives.”
Kent County Council has made an order to temporarily prohibit through traffic on various roads in Swale from Thursday 2nd April 2020 with estimated completion by Wednesday 29th April 2020.
The road closures were requested to be brought forward by various members and schools to coincide with the start of the school Easter holiday before the Government announced the closure of all UK schools.
A2 High Street, Newington will be closed from number 17 to the junction with Bull Lane. To the extent indicated by signs and barriers on site.
The alternative route for non-motorway traffic is via A2 Hartlip Hill, Breach Lane, The Street, Sheerness Road, Raspberry Hill Lane, Old Ferry Road, Sheppey Way, Ferry Road, Sheppey Way, Key Street Roundabout, A2 Keycol Hill, Boyce Hill, High Street and vice versa.
The alternative route for HGVs travelling eastbound is via A2 High Street, Boyce Hill, Keycol Hill, Key Street Roundabout, A249 Maidstone Road, A249 Stockbury Roundabout Entry, M2 Junction 5 on-slip, M2, M2 Junction 4 off-slip, A278 Hoath Way, Bowaters Roundabout, A2 London Road, High Street, Moor Street, London Road and Hartlip Hill.
The alternative route for HGVs travelling westbound is via A2 Hartlip Hill, London Road, Moor Street, High Street, London Road, Bowaters Roundabout, A278 Hoath Way, M2 Junction 4 on-slip, M2, M2 Junction 5 off-slip, A249 Stockbury Roundabout Road, A249 Maidstone Road, Key Street northbound off-slip, Key Street Roundabout, Keycol Hill, Boyce Hill and High Street.
Bull Lane, Newington and Church Lane, Newington will be closed at the junctions with A2 High Street, to the extent indicated by signs and barriers on site.
The alternative route for the Church Lane closure is via Wardwell Lane, Vicarage Lane, The Street, Breach Lane and vice versa.
The alternative route for the Bull Lane closure is via Old House Lane, Lower Hartlip Road and vice versa.
Wormdale Hill, Newington will become one-way in a southbound direction from the junction with Bull Lane to the vicinity of the Golf Club car park. However, two-way access will be maintained on Wormdale Hill, Newington from the junction with Maidstone Road up to the vicinity of the Golf Club car park.
Station Road, Newington will remain open to allow for access into the Station.
Access for emergency service vehicles and pedestrians will be maintained at all times during the closure.
The closure is required for the safety of the public and workforce while gas main replacement works on A2 High Street, Newington are undertaken by SGN.
For information regarding this closure please contact SGN on: 0800 111999, who will be able to assist with the scope of the works.
For details of roadworks, see: https://one.network
Kent County Council - Highways, Transportation & Waste
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KCC is urging the county’s smaller charities to take advantage of an emergency fund launched by the Kent Community Foundation, which the county council has already supported with a grant of £200,000.
The Foundation has said it will be supporting charities and community groups facing difficulties as their fundraising activities are affected by the government measures to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus.
The emergency fund will accept applications for grants of up to £10,000, from charities with an annual income of £200,000 or less and will initially give priority to those from organisations supporting the elderly and vulnerable.
Mike Hill, KCC’s Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services, said:
“Many charities will suffer a loss of income because of the current pandemic and will therefore struggle to provide their vital services to the community.
Kent Community Foundation has asked its existing supporters to help alleviate this situation and KCC has acted quickly to donate £200,000 to the new Coronavirus Emergency Fund.
This will initially support charities and community groups working with the elderly and vulnerable, but the foundation will closely monitor developments to assess which other groups may also need support from this fund.”
KCC is currently consulting on its Civil Society Strategy, which is due to be launched in June. The strategy sets out KCC’s commitment to supporting the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, recognising the important role it plays in our communities.
The strategy will see future investment into the social sector but the decision has been taken to bring some of the funding forward to support organisations during this challenging time.
Residents and organisations can taken part in the consultation by clicking this link: https://kccconsultations.inconsult.uk/consult.ti/civilsocietystrategy/consultationHome
Charities wishing to apply for support from the foundation should visit the website: https://kentcf.org.uk
Murray Evans
Kent County Council
Space
Upchurch Choral Society, along with other groups, has stopped all rehearsals for the time being because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
So our next concert, scheduled for Saturday 25th April, is cancelled.
One day, hopefully, we will restart with renewed vigour and sing to the village again!
Sue Rossiter
Secretary to Upchurch Choral Society
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Protecting the most at risk
Some people with serious underlying health conditions face the highest risk of being hospitalised by Coronavirus.
We are urging those people to STAY at home.
Read the full guidance here: https://bit.ly/3976KDL
Social distancing:
✅ Everyone should be reducing their interactions with others to reduce transmission of COVID-19.
✅ People at increased risk of severe illness should be particularly stringent in following the advice.
Isolate your household - Stay at home
The most common symptoms of Coronavirus are:
A new continuous cough
OR
High temperature (37.8 degrees or higher).
If you or anyone in your household has a high temperature or a new and continuous cough - even if it’s mild:
✅ Everyone in your household must stay at home for 14 days and keep away from others.
❌ DO NOT go to your GP, hospital or pharmacy.
✅ Go to: nhs.uk to check your symptoms and follow the specialist medical advice. Only call NHS 111 if you can’t get online or your symptoms worsen.
✅ Protect older people and those with existing health conditions by avoiding contact.
Here's what you can do to protect yourself and others:
✅ Wash your hands more often.
✅ Use soap and water for 20 seconds.
✅ Or use hand sanitiser.
