Parents should 'bring hand sanitiser to playground'

Councillor Shaun Davies said additional cleaning will be carried out at the sites, which are currently sealed off, but said residents’ “own common sense and knowledge of coronavirus” will be needed to keep them safe.

He said the example of Leicester, which has seen a flare-up in Covid-19 infections and the imposition of a the UK’s first “local lockdown”, was a reminder that the virus still poses a danger.

Speaking in a video update, recorded at his home and posted on YouTube, Councillor Davies also talked about measures the local authority had taken to continue free school meal and breakfast club provision throughout the holiday and ensure shoppers could return to the high street safely.

Earlier this week, Telford and Wrekin Council announced its Southwater library would reopen on Saturday, July 4, followed by others in Madeley, Newport, Wellington and Oakengates the following Monday.

Councillor Davies said: “We’ll shortly be making announcements in respect of our play facilities and we will do this in the safest possible way.

“We’re not going to be able to get back to a complete open service overnight and, equally, we’re not going to be able to clean every piece of equipment every time it is used.

“Therefore, we need to rely on you, our residents, to use your own common sense and knowledge of coronavirus.

“So, for example, if you’re going to your local play park, please do bring some hand sanitiser so you can clean your and your children’s hands before and after use.”

He added: “We’ve already seen in places like Leicester that the freedoms that we are being granted now can easily be rescinded by government, by way of the local lockdown.

“The only way we can avoid a local lockdown is by continuing to be as safe as we can: making sure we’re washing our hands; making sure we’re keeping two metres away or, where that isn’t possible, one metre with further protection; making sure, if we have the symptoms, we’re getting tests; and making sure we isolate when required to do so.

“We’re working with employers to ensure they know what help and support is available to their staff but please, do contact us if you’re uncertain.

“We’re not at all at the end of this. I see time and time again people saying ‘It’s over’. It isn’t over.

“As we move forward into the next stage of a national relaxation of the lockdown, local lockdowns are perfectly possible and highly likely. That’s why we need to make sure we do all that we can, as residents, businesses and communities, to keep this virus under control.”