From the office of Epsom MP Chris Grayling
Dear constituent
I am writing to you with some further updates about the current situation.
First of all, the full list of government guidelines and advice is here
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
And for businesses in need of help, here
Please bear in mind this weekend that if we all start to ignore the rules on social distancing, that there will be a direct knock-on effect on the staff at Epsom Hospital. The Epsom team has taken on responsibility for much of the most serious Coronavirus care in our area, and has been established as a major intensive care centre with a large number of new intensive care beds. This is happening here, rather than at St Helier, and so we have a particular responsibility to try to ease pressure on that great local team. I am really grateful to them for what they are doing amidst intense challenges.
All the latest guidance about what you can and cannot do is here.
As you will probably know, those suffering from particularly serious health conditions are being asked to shield themselves from outside contact for 12 weeks.
Details of those who are being asked to do so are here….
If you believe you should be on that list, but have not received notification from the NHS, you can self-register here.
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus-extremely-vulnerable
A message for local sports clubs from Sport England. They have set up an emergency fund for clubs that are in financial difficulty. The fund is now open for applications. You can find details at
https://www.sportengland.org/how-we-can-help/our-funds/community-emergency-fund
A reminder that the Surrey County Council helpline for those who are in need of support at this difficult time is 0300 200 1002. The three local Borough and District Councils are also stepping up their work to support local residents who are in difficulty and they will be providing more information to people in the coming days. And the local branches of Age Concern can help with shopping if you are of pensionable age and self-isolating:
Age Concern Epsom & Ewell - 01372 732456
Age Concern Mole Valley - 01306 899104
Age Concern Banstead – 01737 352156
There is a list of what the local supermarkets are doing now to set aside time for NHS workers and the elderly on my website, https://www.chrisgrayling.net/supermarket-opening-times
Thank you to those of you who are supporting our local restaurants to keep their businesses going doing takeaways. There is a list of those who have told me that they are doing this on my website, https://www.chrisgrayling.net/local-take-away-restaurants/. Please let me know if you are aware of others. Do use them if you can. We need them to be there when this is over.
Finally, the County Council has just put out the following warning.
Watch out for coronavirus scams
Trading standards is reporting that there are numerous different coronavirus scams circulating at the moment. These include offering miracle cures for the virus and home testing kits which don’t exist. There have also been reports of fraudulent text messages or emails which might be fining residents for going out, or offering refunds on taxes or business rates.
Residents should remember to never invite people they don’t know into their homes, pay upfront for services or offers of shopping, or give out bank details. Trading standards is advising to not be rushed into making a decision, be sceptical, don’t be afraid to hang up, bin it, delete it or shut the door. For more advice visit the ‘stay connected’ page at surreycc.gov.uk/coronavirus.
Take care.
Best wishes
Chris
