Today is International Workers Memorial Day, a day where we remember and honour all the workers who have died from work-related injuries and diseases. At 11am this morning I stood in silence along with many other people across the country to stop and reflect and remember the sacrifices that people have made to keep us safe and to keep vital services going. Thoughts this year were particularly with those who have died on the frontline tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

Today is also a day for redoubling our efforts to keep our frontline workers safe. You may have seen last night?s Panorama programme which highlighted the very real problems associated with Government supplies of PPE. As an employer of care workers we have seen first-hand that the Government supplies are still falling short of what we need. It means that we have to expend time, effort and money purchasing significant stock from other sources. We will continue to lobby the Government on this issue to ensure the ongoing safety of all care workers at the council, in the city and across the UK.

It is vitally important that we continue to observe Government instructions to stay at home and follow social distancing guidelines ? I know it has been tough but staying at home really does save lives so thank you to all of you who continue to observe this.

Please continue to follow the Government guidelines:

• Stay at home
• Only go outside for food, health reasons or work (but only if you cannot work from home)
• If you go out, stay two metres (six feet) away from other people at all times
• Wash your hands as soon as you get home
• Do not meet others, even friends or family. You can spread the virus even if you don?t have symptoms.

Read more about what you can and cannot do