Lincolnshire Coronavirus: Work warnings in Lincolnshire

Deputy director of public health at Lincolnshire County Council Tony McGinty said there was a “risk that people who really want to do more than advised may take the new guidances as a signal to be more liberal”.

He urged people to follow the key principles of staying at least two metres away from those who are “not part of our household”.

As businesses and employees look at whether they can return to work this week, Mr McGinty advised people to “layer different bits of advice on top of each other”.

“For example, if you would have to use public transport to access your work, then you probably shouldn’t go back to work because the advice about the risks of public transport are really clear in the in the guidance.

“If, however, you could get to your workplace without using public transport, then you would want to look to the cautions that being taken in your work place.”

He pointed to safety measures such as no gathering rules, enhanced cleaning regimes, no hot-desking, two metres distance between workstations at all times, and making sure that your employer is encouraged to actively monitor staff health and well being

“You would want to look to your own protection and look to whether your colleagues and your employer were enabling that to happen and, if you weren’t confident, you would be thinking carefully I think about returning to your workplace.”

He said if people were concerned they were being pressurised into work that they should consult the Health and Safety Executive, staff organisations and trade unions.

The UK’s chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed the future of the government’s job retention and furlough scheme, amid calls to extend it.

Under the scheme, the government are paying up to 80% of wages for more than six million people while they are temporarily on leave from their jobs.

He has now extended it until the end of October.

Acas Chief Executive, Susan Clews, has said: “We welcome the Chancellor’s announcement to extend the furlough scheme until the end of October.

“The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme helps employers to retain their staff by covering wage costs during an exceptional crisis period where businesses’ incomes have been adversely impacted due to coronavirus. This extension will give a confidence boost to many businesses and staff who were nervous about their future after June.”