13.1 Urgent Motion regarding the Covid-19 Virus

The Council agreed to suspend Procedure Rule 13.1 to enable the following urgent motion to be debated without notice regarding the Covid-19 Virus

Councillor Peter Golds moved and Mayor John Biggs seconded the motion as tabled

The motion was unanimously agreed.

RESOLVED:

This Council notes:

1.         Widespread concern about the Covid-19 virus;

2.         The coronavirus outbreak has been labelled a pandemic by the World Health Organization;

3.         That four cases have been reported in Tower Hamlets as at the 10^th March;

4.         Panic buying of essentials over the last weekend;

5.        That we are currently in the containment phase of the response;

6.        That the NHS advice is;

DO

·         wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds

·         always wash your hands when you get home or into work

·         use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available

·         cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze

·         put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards

·         try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell

DON'T

·         do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean

This Council resolves:

1.         To more pro-actively inform residents about what it is doing, for example about the cleaning of public facilities likely to be touched by residents and what residents should do in this phase of the virus;

2.         To more pro-actively instruct people on how to wash their hands for example and what behaviours to avoid i.e. spitting in public, as well as on keeping your distance from others where possible;

3.         To ensure school pupils are educated in what to do as regards the virus and to encourage them pass that information onto their families;

4.         To clean areas / items where residents / visitors are likely to touch things for example toilet doors, computers in Ideas stores, entrance doors etc.

5.         The council will work more closely with faith communities to help them implement any necessary precautions to ensure they can attend their places of worship in safety if possible. For example this includes the run up to Ramadan and other faith observations;

6.         Maintain a constant dialogue with faith communities to ensure the Council can ensure they have the most up-to-date information as this can rapidly change;

7.         That LBTH should publicise what it will do should the government decide to move onto the Delay and then Mitigation phase of the crisis;

8.         To translate the advice into languages used across Tower Hamlets;

9.         To work with local retailers to ensure that they do not run out of essentials;

10.       That the Public Health department publicise their and others public bodies responsibilities so that residents are aware of who is responsible for what across government agencies;

11.       That the Health & Adults Scrutiny Sub-Committee have a verbal update from appropriate Council officers and review all pre-existing Public Health plans as soon as possible and also review the Communications plan to be used at each stage of the response.