Coronavirus

The Leader of Swale Council, Cllr Roger Truelove (Labour) is urging the government to introduce public health measures to deal with the winter threat of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses as soon as possible.

All care home residents and staff across the Sittingbourne area have now received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, less than two weeks after the vaccination hub opened up at Heather House.

The Borough of Swale officially has the second highest Covid-19 infection rate in the country.

Swale recorded 928 cases of coronavirus, while Thanet (Kent's previous highest authority area) recorded only 725 positive cases between Sunday 8th November and Saturday 14th November.

This latest fugure takes the borough's infection rate from 296.5 per 100,000 to 637.7 per 100,000.

Anyone worried about businesses not following the Government’s coronavirus regulations can report their concerns to Swale Borough Council.

With new restrictions in force, the council is increasing the number of spot checks on local businesses to make sure they are complying with the regulations in place.

The council has the power to issue fines to firms of up to £10,000 if they are found to be breaching the regulations, and the police can issue fixed penalty notices of up to £6,400 to individuals.

The Leader of Swale Borough council, Cllr Roger Truelove, has called for a renewal of "community spirit" to help people get through the next six months of restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the last few weeks, the government has announced new measures to try to prevent the spread of the virus, including limiting opening hours for pubs, bars and restaurants, making collection of contact details a legal requirement for businesses, and making it illegal for groups of more than six people to gather socially.

McDonalds UK have today announced the 15 stores that are due to re-open next Wednesday (13th May) and they include the Sittingbourne Retail Park branch.

McDonald's Chief Executive, Paul Pomroy, told SFM News that the Sittingbourne branch, which closed in March following the government's implementation of lockdown, will be staffed by a smaller team than usual.

He said: "We will providing all employees with updated training on restaurant cleanliness and sanitisation and the restaurant will be deep cleaned before re-opening".

New figures, released by The Office Of National Statistics (ONS) have revealed the number of people who have died from COVID-19 in Kent. 

The report reveals that 205 people had died of coronavirus in the county on or before Friday 10th April – 181 in hospital (88.3%), 16 in care homes (7.8%), 7 at home (3.4%) and 1 in a hospice.

The first 776 local businesses that have applied for business rate relief grants from Swale Borough Council will be receiving payments worth £8.9 million between them later this week.

The council wrote to 2,600 eligible businesses in the borough with details on how to apply for the grants, which are part of the government's measures to support small businesses and businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors through the period of disruption caused by coronavirus (COVID-19).

Many people will have trusted friends, family and neighbours they can call on for support but where this is not the case, Kent Together is working with all of the local authorities, fire, health and police services to organise help and assistance for the communities and vulnerable people across Kent. 

Following government advice to only travel if your journey is essential local bus companies have revised timetables across the network, though key routes will continue to operate to ensure customers can access critical services and key workers are able to travel.

For the vast majority of local services these changes came into effect from yesterday (Monday 30th March) and affect the following routes:- 

ARRIVA

333 - Sittingbourne to Faversham
via Bapchild, Teynham and Ospringe