It has now been 100 days since the lockdown began and I just want to take the time to acknowledge how difficult this time has been for everyone. People have come together though to support each other through these unprecedented times and the selfless response of Nottingham people has underlined what we already knew about those who live and work in our city.

As a council, we?ve moved staff to protect vital, existing frontline services, while launching a number of programmes in direct response to the pandemic, designed to support our most vulnerable residents. A total of 18,000 vulnerable people have been contacted to check they?re ok including 12,000 who have been shielding. We?ve also supported the Robin Hood Fund?which was set up at the start of the pandemic distributing money kindly donated by local people to organisations working with vulnerable people.?

We all owe a huge debt of thanks to council staff ? many in unfamiliar roles ? who have worked so hard to make sure these services have been carried out. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, we have lost over 200 people to this disease in the city, including 2 members of staff and we remember them as well as the many others during the pandemic.

Over 300 businesses have benefited from ?2.5million discretionary business support grant funding from Nottingham City Council to support small businesses in the city.

Grants of ?2,500, ?5,000 and ?10,000 have been paid out by the Nottingham City Council Economic Recovery Unit to eligible businesses, such as those in shared or flexible workspaces, market and street traders, charities and other businesses with a rateable value between ?15,000-?51,000 who have been forced to close or reduce trade due to COVID-19.

The grants paid to date have supported over 300 businesses in shared premises, including from BioCity and the University of Nottingham?s small business incubator spaces, as well as around 60 market traders and 70 charities, supporting over 4,000 jobs.

The crisis has been enormously difficult for local businesses who are essential to our local economy. I am pleased we have been able to support them during this time and look forward to many of them re-opening safely this weekend.

With the recent announcement of a localised lockdown in Leicester many will be aware of regional variations in the spread of the virus and the need for us to not be complacent at the success we have made in tackling the virus in Nottingham,

That is why I am pleased we are publishing a Local Outbreak Control Plan which sets out the framework for how Nottingham City Council will work with partners, businesses and citizens to contain the spread of the virus, working with the NHS Test and Trace service. Nottingham City Council is leading the plan in partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council, local NHS organisations, Public Health England, the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System and the Nottinghamshire Local Resilience Forum.

The Local Outbreak Control Plan is about how we respond to a rise in Covid-19 cases ? but prevention still remains a priority and the best way of stopping the spread. I would like to thank everyone in Nottingham who has done their bit to stop the spread. We can clearly all continue to make a difference through hand-washing with soap and water, wearing face coverings on public transport and maintaining social distancing wherever possible.