Council’s Public Health chief to answer COVID questions live on Facebook

As part of the Council’s campaign to reduce the spread of coronavirus in the town – entitled Swindon: It’s up to all of us – Steve Maddern, the Director of Public Health, will be in the hot seat for 20 minutes tomorrow fielding questions from members of the public.

Social media users can submit their questions beforehand or tune in to the Council’s corporate Facebook page at 12.20pm to watch the session live and leave questions for Steve in the comments section.

The Q&A is an extension of the Council’s campaign to reach as many members of the public as possible to remind them of the things they need to do to stop the spread of the virus.

So far, the Council has been extremely proactive in the community, working with local businesses and public sector agencies to get the key messages out there. Last week Council staff teamed up with Wiltshire Police to hit the streets of SN1 postcode areas to give advice and distribute free PPE to residents and business owners.

Thousands of advice leaflets have already been delivered to addresses in the target areas and the Council is continuing to work with community groups to ensure everybody understands what they need to do to prevent the spread of the virus.

During the 20 minute Q&A session, Steve will be able to answer questions around the control of local outbreaks, the work the Council has undertaken so far as well as any tips to help people stay safe.

Steve Maddern, Swindon Borough Council’s Director of Public Health, said: “I am delighted to be able to offer people this opportunity to ask me direct questions about the local response to controlling coronavirus.

“We are not at the point of implementing local restrictions, but we need to do everything we can to limit the spread of the disease and to keep our case rate down. I hope this Q&A will go some way towards helping us achieve that aim.”

The Q&A will be around 20 minutes long and will begin at 12.20pm tomorrow (Wed, 19 Aug). It can be viewed live on the Council’s corporate Facebook page.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the Council wants to make sure services meet the needs of the community as far as possible. Officers are working on plans for things like health services, employment, social care and general support in the community. To help, the Council is running a survey from today until 25 September and would like responses from as many residents as possible. To fill out the survey, click here: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/healthwellbeingsurvey.