Richmond Council leader Gareth Roberts has told residents that the country is facing a "massive" rise in Covid-19 cases and deaths.

Cllr Roberts was speaking in a video address this afternoon (Monday, September 21).

Watch his address above or read the transcript of his comments below.

Hello, today the government's chief scientific advisor and chief medical officer issued a stark warning to the country that unless we take urgent steps to address the spread of the virus we could see 50,000 cases being reported on a daily basis by the middle of October and 200 daily deaths being reported by November.

We also know that it is likely that there will be additional measures imposed in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

Until we know what those measures are, it is vital that we stick to the measures with which we are all now familiar:

• washing our hands wherever possible
• wearing a face mask or covering on public transport, in shops and supermarkets or in other enclosed public spaces
• maintaining social distancing
• and observing the Rule of Six – no gatherings of more than six people either indoors or outdoors.

We must take the threat of a massive increase in cases and a massive increase in deaths seriously.

As soon as we have been made aware of what the new restrictions which may be put in place, we will let you know.

Please follow the guidelines, stay safe and healthy. Thank you.

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