By Denise Park, Chief Executive at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council 

I’M filling in this week as our director of public health, Professor Dominic Harrison, is taking a well-deserved break.

I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge his outstanding contribution to the response to the pandemic. Nothing is too much trouble for Dom and he takes every opportunity to help people understand the issues and how we can support each other through the challenges of Covid-19.

As well as being in demand to speak to the media, community leaders and others, he works closely with me and our elected representatives to inform and influence government decisions about Blackburn with Darwen.

It’s fair to say we have all had a long, hard six months so far and we all want to get back to seeing more of our friends and family and doing the things we enjoy together. Our schools are now back and we want to keep it that way.

On top of our local guidance for parts of Blackburn, where households are asked not to mix at all, national announcements this week limit socialising for everyone from Monday as that’s when we relax and let our guard down.

The best way we can all play our part is for all of us to stick to the basic rules for hand washing and social distancing, follow the national and local rules on social mixing and get tested. The more people tested, positive or negative, the more evidence we have to make the best decisions.

I know it’s tough, especially the extra restrictions that are still in parts of Blackburn. We want to get everyone out of the extra restrictions.

This week has also seen the lifting of restrictions for more businesses, something we have been pushing hard for. We are confident the council can work with businesses across the borough to ensure they can operate safely with the right advice, following Covid-safe guidance. We also have powers to close any businesses that can’t demonstrate they are listening and acting on all the guidance and procedures expected of them. Our businesses and town centres are open and it’s good when people support them and shop local.

People here have a proud history of pulling together, especially in adversity, and the response has been amazing, let’s keep going for a bit longer. I also want to thank those people who have taken the time to contact the council to give us feedback during the last six months; kind words give a real lift to those who are working with Covid-19 every day.

And finally thanks to the Lancashire Telegraph for helping us to get important information to residents. We are constantly updating our information to help people navigate the changes, local guidance and rules.