person washing their hands in sink

‘Keep calm and carry on’ says Isle of Wight council leader in light of coronavirus outbreak

As reported during OnTheWight’s live coverage from last night’s Corporate Scrutiny Committee (catch up here), the message from the leader of the Isle of Wight Council about the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak is ‘simple’ — “keep calm and carry on”.

At the meeting council bosses reassured the public there is nothing to panic about following the confirmed Covid-19 case on the Island.

Stewart: “Keep calm and carry on”
Responding to Cllr Debbie Andre, asking whether a strategy was in place to deal with the virus, Council leader, Cllr Dave Stewart, said the risk level was relatively low on the Island. He said,

“We need to keep calm and carry on.

“I am extremely reassured by the professionalism of the public health officers and we have got some great practical things we are doing.

“I say play it safe — be sensible. People have been told to wash their hands and to not shake hands — these are simple things we can do.

“Phone a friend — we are all very good at looking after our residents but we do not need to go and see them to see if they are okay, you can phone them instead.”

Mosdell: “Everything is in place. We are ready”
Cabinet member for adult social care and public health, Cllr Clare Mosdell, said she could give absolute assurance the public health team were doing everything it could to ensure things were done correctly and to keep public fears to a minimum — but the council was not going to supply people with face masks.

She said:

”We have a strategy, everything is in place. We are ready. Nobody can say at this stage how the virus is going to progress.

“It is a really difficult time and the officers, as you can imagine, are incredibly busy.

“All I can say is I walked into County Hall today and once again I saw people shake hands, not using hand gel. You need to wash your hands properly and stop shaking hands.

“I know we are all terribly British and that is what we do but at the moment we need to protect our own personal space a lot more than we usually do.”

Call 111
Councillors also urged people to ring 111 and self-isolate, instead of going to the doctors or up to A&E — ‘it is the worst thing you can do’.

Cllr Mosdell said there had been an incident at St Mary’s over the weekend, when someone claiming to be a councillor had demanded information from hospital staff.

She said:

“We will be investigating that phone call but I can say categorically it was not a county councillor.”

Cllr Mosdell also added that those coming on holiday to the Island need not phone 111 asking if the Island was going to shut.


This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may be been made by OnTheWight. Ed

Image: usdagov under CC BY 2.0

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mariner58
5, July 2019 9:12 am

I wonder if this has been raised with the IW Council or coroners office or just a further attempt by PCC to utilise the IW as a means of revenue for themselves.
They are already seriously proposing a ‘clean air’ levy on all older cars travelling to or from the ferries because the have to pass through Portsmouth.

Billy Builder
5, July 2019 9:44 am

Whilst I’m sure that there is a financial gain to be had merging services, unfortunately as ever this will lead to yet more jobs being exported overseas, with less career prospects on the Island, we are becoming a dormitory island with no job prospects for our children. In time the Isle of Wight will just be a place where you come to die.

Alternative Perspective
5, July 2019 2:33 pm

One smells more than a whiff of politics here.

The IW Coroner has rattled a few cages over the last year, which won’t have pleased many people on high places. It would be a retrograde step to loose our excellent IW Coroner who is not afraid to stand up for the little people and demand answers from those with power.

Steve Goodman
Reply to  Alternative Perspective
5, July 2019 8:28 pm

A reminder of such answer still outstanding after nearly six years. At David Green’s inquest the Coroner said to the IW Council “I trust that there will be a full investigation and appropriate action taken against whoever has issued this information, either by way of a leak, in particular if it’s by way of a leak, or if the information was issued prematurely”. They failed to respond,… Read more »

Steve Goodman
Reply to  Steve Goodman
5, July 2019 8:31 pm

(Corrected comment first line: A reminder of one such answer still outstanding after nearly six years.)

https://vimeo.com/291380278

Stewart Blackmore
5, July 2019 7:37 pm

This brings up the question of Island residents having to go across the Solent to give evidence, rather than Newport, with the additional time, costs and inconvenience that this will inevitably cause.

Another chip away at the Island’s County status?

veeseedee
5, July 2019 8:02 pm

Here’s an idea – I give it free of charge. Just leave things as they are. An overall saving of £15k is one that could easily be found by cutting the consultants fees who came up with this wheeze or better still the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office/expenses.

Eagle eye
6, July 2019 9:17 am

For those islanders who haven’t cottoned on yet, this removal of services from the island and the building of houses that islanders cannot afford, this is all part of the bigger plan to become Hampshire. There will be no Isle of Wight except in name only. Bob Seely’s manifesto upon which he was elected was, I believe, one big con. He said he would fight to prevent… Read more »

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