The LGA's media office provides the national voice of local government in England and Wales on the major issues of the day for national, regional and local press.
For the first time, all three stakeholder groups have agreed a joint national approach to the crisis. The fire service organisations say that the measures in the agreement reflect the scale of the national crisis and the urgency of the response required.
Under the agreement, firefighters will be able to:
Deliver essential items like food and medicines to vulnerable people
Drive ambulances and assist ambulance staff
Retrieve dead bodies, should the outbreak cause mass casualties
Firefighters will continue responding to core emergencies, such as fires and road traffic collisions, but
Retired care workers being asked to return to work could help support those most at risk of the coronavirus outbreak and provide a much-needed boost to an already over-stretched social care workforce, say council leaders.
“Council are leading local efforts to protect communities from coronavirus and will be central to the nation's recovery. We are pleased the Government has announced measures today to allow councils to help the country transition to the new way we will need to travel around, including to and from work."
“Councils need adequate resources and funding certainty to not only cope with this immediate coronavirus crisis but to continue providing other vital public health services for the long term."
“As the focus shifts from hospitals to social care we need to do all we can to shield people in care homes and those receiving care in their own homes."
“Councils have a unique understanding of their communities and are ideally placed with the skills, knowledge and experience on the ground to help ramp up the level of testing and contact tracing necessary to defeat this disease."
“This extra funding for infection control in care homes is good news and will help councils’ public health teams in their efforts to reduce and prevent coronavirus outbreaks."