There were stark warnings from the Government’s chief scientist and medical adviser today about the rate of infection in this country being already too high, and climbing. It’s clear that further restrictions are likely to be needed to address this, especially as we head towards winter. We don’t need to wait for Government announcements to know the right thing to do – we must all take our own responsibility for following the ‘Hands, Face, Space’ message and the Rule of Six, not just to protect ourselves but to protect those around us. Limiting social interactions and taking sensible precautions if leaving our households will help curb the spread of this deadly disease. The virus has not changed since it emerged six months ago, and nor have the basic ways of tackling it. Find the latest Government guidelines here

As the Government prepares to launch its Test and Trace app, businesses across Nottingham are being asked to make some changes to their venues to prepare for the app’s introduction. From today, a variety of businesses will need to display a QR code at all entrances to their premises for visitors to scan. These include:

• Hospitality venues, including pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés 
• Tourism and leisure venues, including gyms, swimming pools, hotels, museums, cinemas, zoos and theme parks 
• Close contact services, including hairdressers
• Facilities provided by the council, including town halls and civic centres (for events), libraries and children’s centres  

Businesses will also be required to ensure ‘The Rule of Six’ is followed, that visitors are social distancing on their visit and to maintain a record of visitors not using the app which must be kept for 21 days following their visit. This is now a requirement whereas before it was only guidance.

We appreciate these are big changes to the way businesses are being asked to work in these difficult times and will support them in displaying this information. Creating a QR code is quick and easy to do via the Gov.uk website, which you can do by following this link.

More information can be found on the NHS website, or via this video from the NHS Test and Trace service.

It is Recycle Week from today, and perhaps we can all use some of the extra time we’re spending at home to think more about things like recycling and reusing the products we buy. Research by the organisers of Recycle Week, now in its 17th year, shows that more people are prepared to change their lifestyles to help the environment since lockdown – 73 per cent, up from 68 per cent in 2019. Also 93 per cent of UK households say they believe that ‘everyone has a responsibility to help towards cleaning up the environment,’ so there’s a real wealth of support out there for it.

Part of Recycle Week is about improving people’s understanding of how to recycle, because 23 per cent of recycling in Nottingham is unfortunately contaminated. One of the main issues is the wrong type of plastic ending up in residents’ recycling bins. We will be providing information about things like which type of plastic can and cannot be recycled during the week. We also have a drop-off for unwanted small electrical items for recycling on Wednesday 23, at The Forest Park and Ride site, 9am-5pm.

For more information about recycling in your area, visit www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/recycleitright. For more information on Recycle Now, visit www.recyclenow.com