Nottingham City Council’s Deputy Leader, Cllr Sally Longford, said:

“We realise that people may be concerned about coronavirus and first and foremost I would urge people to follow the Government advice about hand washing thoroughly and regularly, and staying at home if experiencing a fever or new persistent cough.

“We have had a small number of cases in Nottingham so far but as the Prime Minister announced after the Cobra meeting yesterday, we can expect this to increase and we stand ready to respond to Government directives about how best to deal with this. This does not involve closing schools or cancelling events at this time, but were that to happen, we appreciate this would create disruption for Nottingham families and we would look at how best to support them.

“We have contingency plans in place to keep essential services running even in the event that our workforce is affected by Covid-19. Our priority is to continue providing support to vulnerable citizens such as social care for elderly people and those with health conditions, who are those who may be most seriously affected by this.

“We are taking daily advice from Public Health England and are in constant contact with local partners including neighbouring councils, health services and the emergency services to ensure we are fully prepared and working effectively together to keep the city running and give people the support they need.

“We are providing ongoing updates on our website, social media and email newsletters to ensure local people have the latest information and advice about how Covid-19 is affecting the city and what they should do.”

You do not need to call NHS111 to go into self-isolation (individuals with mild symptoms will not be tested). If your symptoms worsen during home isolation or are no better after 7 days, visit NHS111 online. If you have no internet access, call NHS 111.