New team to tackle Covid

This week, the new team of Covid Support Advisors will hit the districts’ streets and will be working closely with the community and local businesses to help keep residents and visitors safe.

South Norfolk Councillor Michael Edney said:

“We want to reduce the numbers of COVID-19 cases in the area and keep our residents safe. This team are offering practical help and are on-hand to support businesses, offer advice to residents and answer any questions they may have about the government’s guidelines.”

The team will be working with businesses to ensure they follow the latest government advice and remain compliant. They will also be in areas with high footfall such as market towns, shopping centres and schools to provide residents with advice, answer questions, offer support and listen to any concerns they may have.

The new team will be focussing on areas where there’s a spike in cases and they will be reminding people how to stay safe. If there is a significant spike, the council will redeploy staff from across the organisation, to strengthen the team to up to 50 people.

Broadland District Councillor Fran Whymark said:

“If there is a big spike in cases, we are ready to bring in extra resources to help drive numbers down and keep them down. We appreciate that the new guidelines may be daunting to some people and businesses, but our advisors are there to help.”

Another important role of the team is to support the government’s Test and Trace programme, if the government has been unable to contact the resident by phone, the team will visit them at their home and advise them on a course of action.

They will also be the first point of contact for anyone who needs support to get them through the pandemic and will help people access the councils’ Help Hub services.

For more information, help and advice, please visit the councils websites.