Steve Maddern: You could be spreading coronavirus without knowing it.

Steve Maddern, Swindon's Director of Public Health, has released a plea to the public to keep going and do the right thing.

We know we have to be patient and persevere if we are to get the better of coronavirus.

It has taken this latest round of national lockdown restrictions to start to turnaround the situation we were in during January, when we had the highest number of UK cases and COVID-19 hospital patients at any time in the pandemic so far.

The numbers continue to move in the right direction but our hard-won progress is easily lost if we allow complacency to set in. Please keep going, doing the right thing and following the ‘Stay at home’ national lockdown rules in place.

One in three people who have the virus have no symptoms, so you could be spreading it without knowing it.

The Government has said it will set out the results of a review of the latest evidence on 22 February and publish its plan for taking England out of lockdown. It is provisionally looking to reopen schools on 8 March.

Subject to supplies, the Government aims to have offered the vaccine to everyone in priority groups 5 to 9 by the end of April. This builds on over 13.5m vaccines administered so far to the most vulnerable in priority groups 5 to 9 across the UK. You can read more about the local vaccine rollout below.

I’d encourage you to read this information on why vaccination is safe and important.