As I'm sure you will have seen from local and national media coverage, the number of Covid cases in Bexley is increasing again. Given how close we are to Christmas that means, if you get infected, you could pass it onto vulnerable or elderly loved ones you may see on Christmas Day - not the Christmas present you were planning?
We all need to do all we can now, over the holiday period and into the new year to stick to the rules, to keep each other safe and bring the number of cases down.
I would ask our school children to resist the temptation to socialise before or after school or on the journey home and that they remember the rules around face coverings on public transport.
Everyone needs to limit their travel to areas that are in a higher tier than us to help reduce the risk of overloading our local NHS. We understand this can be a busy time for shopping but, if you are shopping, please do so safely by maintaining your distance and by wearing face masks.
These are big asks in a year when we have already made so many sacrifices, but it is worth the effort to help the chance of a good Christmas break and avoid putting more pressure on our NHS.
Help is on the way in the form of the new vaccine, but there is still a lot we need to do. If we can just maintain our focus for a while longer, we can beat Covid and look forward to a return to more normal times.
Until then, please remember the guidelines, and keep each other safe.
That way we'll all have a safe, healthy Christmas and can look forward to a brighter New Year.
View Bexley's latest daily dashboard of COVID cases.
