Welcome
Minutes:
The Mayor welcomed Members, Officers and Members of the Public to the Council Meeting at Aintree Racecourse; and indicated that following discussions with the Director of Public Health it was considered that the current scale of Covid-19 infection in Sefton justified the need to meet in a larger, easier to distance venue such as Aintree Racecourse.
Furthermore, many Councillors had also expressed concern about their own personal safety and this had contributed to the decision to hold the meeting at Aintree Racecourse. The Director of Public Health had advised that:
· There still remained a high rate of infection in Sefton at circa 400/100,000 and over 1000 still contracting Covid in the last 7 days
· There were approximately 129 Council and School staff absent from work because they had Covid
· Cases were slowly coming down, but we were not yet at a level where we could drop the protective measures that helped to prevent the spread of the virus
· Thankfully our vaccines were protecting us from severe Covid-19 disease. However, even vaccinated individuals could catch and transmit Covid-19.
The Mayor appreciated that there had been some criticism about meetings being held at Aintree, but again we would be utilising Government funding for Covid-19 to pay for the room hire. On balance it was believed that we were protecting Councillors, staff and supporting the NHS and our communities by limiting the risks of spreading Covid-19; and she hoped that this decision was understood.
The Mayor also indicated that in the usual way she would be obliged if Members would observe social distancing measures and should any Member or officer need to move away from their designated area she kindly requested that a face covering was worn.
Finally, the Mayor advised that hand sanitizers were provided for use by attendees; and that she hoped that all attendees had taken a lateral flow test prior to their attendance at the Council Meeting and which had produced a negative result.