Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Information about our services

Public health information

Support available and community groups

Community testing

England is in a national lockdown

England entered a national lockdown on Tuesday 5 January. This means you must stay at home and only go out if it is essential. 

View more detailed government guidance including essential reasons to leave the home and meeting others at GOV.UK: national lockdown.

News

Live COVID-19 public update on 2 March

We are broadcasting  our fifth live public COVID-19 update on Tuesday 2 March at 5.30pm, live via Microsoft Teams.

The broadcast will be an opportunity to hear about the latest rates of COVID-19 cases in Wiltshire, the arrangements in place to mitigate the spread of the virus, how the council is continuing to support residents and businesses at this time and answering residents questions. Find out more.

Join the event when it starts

Schools and colleges reopen on 8 March

Schools will reopen on Monday 8 March for all primary and secondary aged pupils. Wiltshire Council is supporting schools and colleges as they prepare to welcome pupils back on this date.

On Monday 22 February, the Government provided information on how lateral flow tests will be rolled out in secondary schools and colleges and information on safety measures. Wraparound childcare for primary and secondary pupils will resume from that date.

Read more detail on the education plans at GOV.UK

You can also read our frequently asked questions on going back to school.

PPE for Unpaid Carers

Wiltshire's eligible unpaid carers are now able to receive PPE following updated national guidance.

Wiltshire Council is working closely with charity Carer Support Wiltshire  to ensure unpaid carers receive the PPE they need to keep those they care for and themselves safe. Carers can request PPE if they care for or go into the home of someone they don't live with to provide care or support.

Carers can call Carer Support Wiltshire on 01380 908008 who will provide advice and arrange for delivery of the PPE complete with instructions on how to use it and dispose of it.  If you are a carer and not currently registered with Carer Support Wiltshire, we encourage you to call them and talk through whether you may be eligible for PPE and find out about other support services they offer. 

A carer is anyone who cares, unpaid, for a family member or friend who could not always manage without their support. They might look after someone with a physical disability, long term health condition, mental health issue or a problem with substance misuse.

COVID vaccinations for priority front-line Health and Social Care Workers

From the 11 of February for a period of two weeks, Health and Social Care Workers are able to book a vaccine appointment directly, via the National Booking service. Book at:  NHS: Book or manage your coronavirus vaccination.

Please try online booking first but if this is not possible, you can phone 119 free of charge, 7am to 11pm, seven days a week.

NHS England will be monitoring the national booking service to identify instances of fraud related to people who do not meet the definitions above.

If you already have an appointment booked or allocated in the next 10 days please do not book another appointment via the national booking service. Please ensure that you attend the appointment that is booked for you. This will greatly help us to manage vaccine wastage and make sure that everyone gets their vaccination as quickly as possible.

Our online COVID-19 business update

We hosted a live online webinar on 3 February for businesses in the county to find out more about the latest COVID-19 grants available to them. If you missed the webinar, you can watch it again on YouTube.

Targeted COVID-19 rapid community testing gets underway in Wiltshire

We have begun to roll out the government's targeted rapid COVID-19 community testing initiative locally to help drive down transmission rates.

Our  programme, in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care, is specifically aimed at asymptomatic people at small businesses, private early years settings and childminders. Eligible people will take a Lateral Flow Test.

The testing sites will be located at:

• Chippenham, Monkton Park
• Devizes Leisure Centre
• Salisbury, Five Rivers Health and Wellbeing Centre
• Trowbridge, County Hall

The Devizes and Salisbury test centres are now up and running, with the others due to follow soon. Until the other sites are open, the Devizes and Salisbury sites are currently the only ones that people can book a place for.

The centres cannot accept people dropping in, and everyone must book an appointment and not have any symptoms of COVID-19. The self-administered test should take no more than 15 minutes and results should be known within half an hour.

Free testing continues to be available to everyone in Wiltshire who has COVID-19 symptoms - high temperature, continuous cough or loss of/change in taste or smell. People should visit  NHS Coronavirus or call 119 to book a test in that instance.

Those in smaller businesses (employees of 50 or less) who cannot work from home, and private (non-maintained) early years settings and childminders have been chosen because they are not currently involved in any other mass-testing scheme.

Anyone who receives a positive Lateral Flow Test result automatically activate legal obligations to self-isolate, and may also claim for a Test and Trace payment if they are eligible.

More information, including FAQs and how to book, can be found at our community testing page

'Jog on' and think carefully where you do your daily exercise

We are urging you to think carefully where you do your daily exercise and to 'jog on' if you travel too far or there's too many people.

Residents have raised concerns about large numbers of people at some of Wiltshire's beauty spots and popular areas and we're asking people to be sensible when out and about and enjoying their daily exercise.

The national lockdown stay at home rules state that people should minimise time spent outside their home, but can leave home to exercise. This should be limited to once per day, and people should not travel outside their local area.

You can exercise in a public outdoor place:

• on your own
• with the people you live with
• with your support bubble (if you are legally permitted to form one)
• in a childcare bubble where providing childcare
• or, when on your own, with one person from another household

Download and print our jog on poster to help share this important message  Jog on poster [31.65KB]

Cases

You can find up-to-date information about the latest number of COVID-related deaths in the Wiltshire Council area at GOV.UK.

Hospitalisations

You can find more on the hospital admissions by trust level.

Care homes