West Yorkshire Leaders urge continued caution as restrictions ease

With remaining Plan B restrictions set to lift tomorrow (27 January), West Yorkshire Prepared – the region’s Local Resilience Forum – are once again urging caution in our return to ‘normal’ life.

As with previous waves, while COVID-19 rates have reduced in London and the South East, case rates in West Yorkshire remain very high. Though we’re expecting to see infection rates level off and reduce in the coming weeks, we would urge everyone to keep doing all they can to keep themselves and others safe.

As part of our ‘Let’s Keep West Yorkshire Going’ campaign – which we’re delivering with West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership and the West Yorkshire Vaccine programme – we’re asking everyone to continue following some very simple steps:

• Get vaccinated
• Wear a mask in crowded or enclosed spaces
• Take a test before meeting with people not in your household

This latter ask is particularly important in helping to limit the spread of the virus. If you plan to meet with friends and family, it is highly advisable you take a Lateral Flow test in the hour before you meet to get the most up to date and accurate result. For those going back into the workplace, now the Government guidelines no longer require people to work from home, we would particularly urge you to take an LFD test before heading in.

Please remember to report LFD test results online (https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result) even if negative, as this can help scientists track the spread of COVID-19 and spot new outbreaks faster.

You can help keep West Yorkshire going by spreading the campaign messages. Search for #KeepWYGoing on Twitter and/or RT the messages from West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership (@WYpartnership) or West Yorkshire Prepared ((@WYPrepared).

For reliable, up to date information on Covid-19, please visit www.gov.uk/coronavirus or www.nhs.uk/coronavirus. For news and information from West Yorkshire Prepared, visit www.westyorkshireprepared.org.uk or follow us on Facebook (@WYPrepared) or Twitter (@WYRForum).