Today, Nottingham and the wider county of Nottinghamshire, have entered the Very High COVID-19 local alert level. This means that additional measures and restrictions are in place. It is important that everyone in the city complies with the new regulations and follows the public health advice as we endeavour to reduce infection rates and hospital admissions.

We are reaching a critical point in managing the spread of the virus as we head in to winter. Our local hospitals are already seeing a huge increase in coronavirus patients, equal to what we saw in April. As our hospitals reach capacity it is not just clinical care for coronavirus patients that could become overloaded but wider patient care too. We all need to do everything we can to ensure that our local NHS services do not become overwhelmed this winter; to ultimately save lives.

The national approach is to bring in targeted measures, depending on the local COVID-19 alert level. The Very High alert level consists of baseline measures which are common across all of the cities and counties which move into ?this category. As a result of discussions between central government and local leaders, a number of additional specific measures have been agreed for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. I appreciate that differing restrictions in different areas does make it harder to understand the rules for each area but you can find the Nottinghamshire specific guidance here, and FAQs are available to download on our website here

• You must not meet socially with friends & family indoors unless they are part of your household or support bubble
• You must also not meet with people outside of your household or support bubble in a private garden or in most outdoor public venues
• You may continue to see friends & family in groups of 6 or less in certain outdoor public spaces including parks and public gardens
• Avoid travelling to other areas apart from for work, education and for caring responsibilities
• Remember: wash hands, cover face, make space

For further details on what the tier three Very High alert level means for Nottingham visit New COVID-19 Restrictions

Many traditional Halloween activities won?t be able to take place this year. As we are now in the highest alert level, the rules state that we cannot mix with other households indoors or in private outdoor spaces, but we can all still have some seasonal fun.

Our StayingHOME portal has many ideas including decorations to make, treats to bake and an indoor treasure hunt to create to keep households entertained this Halloween.? And we?ve put together some Top Tips for safe celebrations

Ahead of Remembrance Sunday next weekend the Royal British Legion are asking people to download a poppy template for a small donation and decorate windows across the country with this iconic symbol. Remembrance Sunday is an important event for many people and a time when people want to be together to reflect and give thanks. Although it will different this year for those that want to, displaying a poppy in your window will be a great way to come together and show our gratitude to our armed forces past and present and bring some colour to our local streets.

The Council House has started wearing its poppies from today and next week we?ll share information about how Nottingham will mark Remembrance Day.

As we spend more time at home, one positive of the pandemic is that many people are reading more. We know that our libraries are much valued by local people and I?m really pleased that our libraries will be remaining open in line with Tier 3 regulations in Nottinghamshire. One thing to now be aware of is that you will need to visit the library alone, or as part of your household or support bubble.

For more information on all the safety measures we have in place and the opening times for all open libraries, please visit Nottingham Libraries

Our Online Library is available 24/7 for customers to access eBooks, eAudio, eNewspapers and so much more!

We know that local authorities like Nottingham City Council will be provided with additional funding to support businesses.

As soon as we have the details of the financial package from the Government, we will work as quickly as possible to share this information with businesses. We will update you via our Tier 3 support for businesses page and via our NERU webpage when more details are available to us.