“Together, we’ll get through this”

Craig Blundred said: “We would like to thank people for their on-going support and we recognise the sacrifices they have made over many months in supporting our efforts to prevent the spread of this dreadful disease.

“So we fully understand the Christmas bubble policy being scaled back to one day only in Tier 1, 2 and 3 areas will be a hammer-blow to many.

“But initial thoughts are that the new variant of the virus can spread more quickly and it’s vital residents and business across Hartlepool join together once more at this critical and pivotal moment.

“Although the new variant is concentrated in tier 4 areas, it is nonetheless present at lower levels around the country and for this reason we would encourage everyone to stay local.”

If you are still choosing to form a Christmas bubble on Christmas Day you should:

• Keep your Christmas bubble as small as possible – two other households is a maximum, not a target
• Stay local – do not join a Christmas bubble with anyone from a Tier 4 area
• Only meet your Christmas bubble in private homes or in your garden, places of worship, or public outdoor spaces
• Only see your bubble on Christmas Day – do not stay overnight and keep your visits as short as possible
• Do not meet socially with friends and family that you do not live with in your home or garden unless they are part of your Christmas bubble

When seeing your Christmas bubble, you should keep taking steps to reduce the spread of the virus. This includes meeting outdoors where possible, ensuring indoor spaces get as much fresh air as possible, making space between members of different households, washing your hands regularly and for 20 seconds, and following rules on self-isolation if you develop symptoms or test positive for coronavirus.

You must not visit another household if you, or anyone in your household, is feeling unwell or self-isolating.

Craig Blundred added: “As I said earlier, we recognise the huge sacrifices people have made to prevent the spread of this virus in Hartlepool and we need to make sure we all continue this effort.

“The bottom line is, COVID-19 is a particularly nasty virus and is spread through social contact. Each and every one of us therefore has a responsibility to ensure we follow the rules and it is important that we are not complacent.

“In particular, please remember hands, face and space, as even small steps save lives. It is vitally important that we all take these basic safety precautions but we need to do it as a collective measure – it is not a case of one or the other.

“It’s also vital to get a test straight away if you have any of the virus symptoms. We’d much rather you booked a test immediately even if it then comes back negative, than adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach for a day or two, because during that time if you do have the virus you could be spreading it to other people and you could also become more poorly yourself.

“The good news is that – although there is much we don’t know about the new variant – there is no evidence at this stage to suggest the vaccine will be any less effective against it.

“I’ve been amazed by the resilience and strength shown by residents across Hartlepool this year and I know that if we all stick together and follow the rules, then together we will get through this.”

Further information is available at www.gov.uk/coronavirus