Letter from the Director of Public Health
18th December 2020
Dear Parent,
I am writing to you today to thank you for all your and your family’s hard work and sacrifices which have contributed to slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Darlington over the past few months. I am certain that if it wasn’t for the actions of parents and families like yourself, our rates of infection could be much worse.
I am also writing to you to ask you to continue this work and remain vigilant, particularly at this time over the festive break. There is a real potential for another surge in cases in January, if there is widespread contact and mixing of households and individuals over the holidays. It is natural to want to be with loved ones, relatives and friends at this time of year, however, I would urge you to be familiar with the current guidance and to encourage your family and friends to follow that guidance, particularly the principles of ‘Hands, Face and Space’ and not mixing with other households outside your designated Support or Christmas bubble.
I would also urge you to get tested quickly if you or anyone shows any symptoms of COVID19. If you or your household are asked to self-isolate, then please remember to tell your friends and relatives that you cannot have visitors until this isolation period is complete. I understand that this will have an impact on plans and could be very disruptive to your celebrations but by doing this you are protecting your family, friends and your community by preventing the wider spread of COVID-19.
A vaccine is now available for COVID-19 and the NHS has started to roll out the vaccination programme across the country. Due to the scale of this programme in providing many millions of people with vaccinations, this will take some months before it is complete. In the meantime, we will all need to remain vigilant and continue to work to reduce the potential
spread of COVID-19 in our communities.
Thank you again for everything that you have been doing to help keep Darlington safe from COVID-19 and I hope that you have a Merry Christmas and safe New Year.
Yours sincerely
Penny Spring
Director of Public Health
