Residents urged to stick to coronavirus guidance as vaccination programme reaches significant milestone

Residents across Cheshire are being urged to continue following the coronavirus regulations – as a significant milestone is reached in the vaccination programme.

Today (Wednesday 17 March) it was announced that more than 25 million people across the UK have now received their first dose of the vaccine – with more than 400,000 of those living in the county.

Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said: “It is great to hear that we have now reached this milestone in the fight against coronavirus and we are already starting to see that it is making a real difference.

“However, it is important to remember that the virus has not gone away and it is essential that we all continue to follow the current guidelines in place to keep everyone safe and to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

“While we know that the majority of people in Cheshire are sticking to the rules, we are still seeing a number of blatant breeches.

“Since the start of the January lockdown, our officers have issued more than 1379 fixed penalty notices – Including 89 in the past week alone.

“The rules are clear and our officers will continue to engage with the public and explain the rules that remain in place but when they are met with blatant and repeat breaches they will not hesitate to enforce.”

Following the changes introduced on 8 March residents are now able to visit local beauty spots for recreation or exercise, either with members of your household/bubble or with one person from outside your household.

Residents are being encouraged to continue playing their part in the national effort and are advised to stay at home as much as possible.

Police and Crime Commissioner David Keane said: “While it is fantastic to see that more than 25 million people have now had their first dose or the coronavirus vaccine, we must all continue to be cautious in order to get back to some form of ‘normality’.

“We must all work together to drive down coronavirus cases and in order to do this, we must all continue to stay at home, only leaving for limited circumstances, until restrictions are lifted further.

“I would like to thank the people of Cheshire for the sacrifices they have made in sticking to the rules.”

For further advice and guidance please visit the Government the Government website.

To report a coronavirus breach visit the Cheshire Police website .

Fix penalty notices - breakdown by area