Take care and stay safe to defeat COVID

Our battle against COVID-19 is nowhere near won – in fact, if anything it must be intensified.

The need for everyone to play their part in this fight was never more stark.

We demonstrated our resilience at the beginning of this pandemic when, as a united community and City we faced the challenge and did what was necessary.

Our hospitality sector showed leadership and closed down early and it was swiftly followed by the rest of the business sector who put precautionary measures in place.

As a community, we supported our elderly and vulnerable as we looked out for each other.

We did it then and we can do it again. It is more important now we all play our part and help stop the spread of the virus.

And as we approach the winter months, traditionally a period of intense pressure on our health service with colds and flu it is imperative that we all act to protect each other and the health service.

Everything that we do from here on should be tempered with consideration not to help this virus spread throughout our families and community.

Our actions must always be about keeping ourselves and others safe.

We cannot afford to let our guard down. It is understandable that people are getting weary of living with restrictions on their daily lives and their relationships with family and friends.

But these are extraordinary times that call for extraordinary efforts from all of us if we are to come through this pandemic.

Derry is a strong and caring community and we need to show that once again. I know we can do it.

This will mean playing your part in protecting one another and your community. It will mean personal sacrifice. It means you should restrict your contacts with others to a minimum, refrain from organising or participating in house parties and devising alternative ways to maintain contact with elderly or vulnerable relatives and neighbours to ensure their safety.

Maintain social distancing, wear a face covering in shops, taxis and public transport. Practice good personal hygiene at all times and wash your hands often.

If you are displaying symptoms book a test and self-isolate in line with the guidance.

The choices you make will not only protect those closest to you in the days and weeks ahead but they could be crucial to saving local jobs and businesses.

If the decisions we make in the days and weeks ahead are not in keeping with the suppression of this virus it most likely will be the local pub, restaurant and shops that will suffer the most.

Therefore, we must make every effort to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our community, but also importantly, we must support efforts to reopen our economy, keep people in jobs, and, most importantly, keep our children at school safely.

We can get through this and hopefully we can look forward to the day in the not too distant future when we can live without the threat of this deadly virus and get back to living life the way we used to enjoy it.

Until then let us do everything possible to protect one another, stop the spread of the virus and stay safe and save lives.