A new BBC documentary with the choirmaster Gareth Malone is due to be filmed in Blackburn this autumn.
Boris Johnson has announced a “roadmap” for easing Covid restrictions in England. What will the first steps be?
The government has published the ‘COVID-19 Response – Spring 2021’ setting out the roadmap out of the current lockdown for England. This explains how the restrictions included in this guidance will be lifted over time.
Two markets in Lancashire have joined forces to support struggling families with children eligible for free school meals. Blackburn Market and Darwen Market have been at the forefront of the initiative which has seen hundreds of vouchers issued to local families to buy high quality fresh foods direct from the markets.
Councillor Julie Gunn, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education and Dominic Harrison, Director of Public Health from Blackburn Council have said that Primary Schools in the area will not face a blanket closure, but individual schools can make their own decisions.
The government have now published a postcode lookup facility to discover which Tier you will be in from 2nd December and it has been confirmed that Blackburn with Darwen will be in Tier 3.
The Mall Blackburn is extending its opening hours to support retailers and give shoppers more time to get everything they need for Christmas.
The government yesterday announced the new rules for when the area comes out of “LockDown 2” and assuming Blackburn and Darwen will remain in Tier 3, these are the rules for the area
Blackburn Police have posted an update to the work they have been doing recently and highlighted two breaches of the current lockdown restrictions
Blackburn with Darwen is being placed into the ‘very high’ alert level of the Government’s new three-tier system of interventions to tackle the spread of Covid-19 from midnight tonight!
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council have announced that COVID-19 testing capacity in the borough has improved.
Lancashire’s top Public Health bosses are urging communities to work together to avoid further local lockdown measures.
The government have issued the latest update to the new restrictions that apply to the whole of Blackburn & Darwen and most of the rest of Lancashire from this Tuesday 22 September.
New tougher restrictions come into force in Lancashire (with the exception of Blackpool) this Tuesday as the government tries to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Council leaders in Blackburn and Darwen have warned that “Everyone in Blackburn with Darwen must comply with the government’s restrictions to help avoid stricter measures being introduced for the whole borough next week.”
The government have announced that gyms, fitness and dance studios, indoor swimming pools and sports clubs in Blackburn will be able to reopen from Tuesday 8th September.
The council have announced that some people who are shielding in Blackburn & Darwen will need to continue shielding until 21st September and people in the “eight lockdown wards” will
Blackburn with Darwen council has confirmed that the extra local restrictions in some parts of Blackburn and Darwen have been lifted today. (Wednesday 26th August 2020) Government legislation has been
Maps of the 8 wards that are likely to be affected by new lockdown restrictions in Blackburn
A targeted approach to reducing the spread of Coronavirus in Blackburn with Darwen is set to be announced today.
Blackburn with Darwen Council’s Davyfield Road depot has been a hive of activity as a fleet of ‘covid-safe’ cabs were prepped to roll out in Blackburn with Darwen.
Blackburn with Darwen Council have announced that the clinically extremely vulnerable should continue to shield until 7th September. They are being sent letters and texts messages by the Government to
Blackburn with Darwen Council has announced it has developed local systems and council staff will now join in the contact tracing system, where the national system has not been successful.
New restrictions on household gatherings in parts of the North West including Blackburn and Darwen.
More restrictions are due to be lifted nationally this weekend to allow more businesses to reopen, but this will not be the case in Blackburn and Darwen.
The Government has tonight confirmed that people returning to the UK from Spain (including islands) from midnight tonight (25 July 2020) will need to self-isolate for 2 weeks.
Blackburn with Darwen Council have confirmed that the borough will be delaying the easing of lockdown, which will include indoor gyms and other indoor sporting centres that were due to
Blackburn with Darwen Council has announced it will look to open its leisure and community centres in August.
Nationally, the Government has said that gyms and swimming pools can re-open from July 25 if appropriate measures are in place.
However, the borough is currently in the top 10 list of local authorities that have higher rates of COVID-19 cases per 100,000.
And, in a bid to reduce the rates of infection to avoid a local lockdown, five new measures have been introduced for all residents.
They include reducing the numbers allowed to visit households to two, asking residents to wear a face covering in all enclosed public spaces and encouraging people to be tested.
Now, the council has announced that its leisure and community centres will instead look to open next month – on August 10.
Professor Dominic Harrison, Blackburn with Darwen’s Director for Public Health, said:
These decisions aren’t ever taken lightly. We know that these centres are popular with our residents and fundamental to their health and wellbeing.
We also don’t want residents to worry that this is part of a wider closure programme – it isn’t – we are doing everything in our power to avoid that.
Our staff had been working really hard to take the steps needed to make the facilities COVID safe and were really looking forward to being able to welcoming residents back safely.
However, as part of our dedicated approach to reducing the spread of Coronavirus in our borough, we are asking residents to play their part by adopting the five new measures we have introduced.
We’re also doing absolutely everything we can to stem the tide of infection rates.
Delaying the opening of these centres is another important step in our local outbreak response.
Full risk assessments and operational planning had been undertaken ready to reopen the centres on July 25, in-line with national guidance.
Now, staff are working hard on new offers – including live streaming of free classes for members and outdoor activities.
Professor Harrison said:
We have worked hard on a whole range of measures to be able to open our centres safely when the time is right.
This includes extensive and frequent cleaning, one way systems and pre-bookable slots.
However, with the number of cases of Coronavirus rising in Blackburn with Darwen at a rate above the national average, our number one priority remains the safety of our residents and our staff.
We are doing absolutely everything we can to prevent a second lockdown and have committed to reviewing the data again in two weeks’ time.
All membership fees continue to be fully suspended at the centres.
The five measures to be undertaken for the next month include:
A limit of two people from the same household allowed to visit another household
At the moment national guidance allows two families to meet indoors as long as they keep to social distancing guidance. We are asking residents to limit the numbers of people meeting indoors to people who live in the house plus only two members from a second household at any one time.
Wearing cloth face coverings in all enclosed public spaces
All residents will be strongly recommended to wear a cloth face covering (or non-surgical mask) in all enclosed public spaces. This means in all shops, workplaces, libraries, museums, health centres, hair and beauty salons etc.
Greeting and embracing
Rather than give handshakes or a hug, we’re asking people to only bump elbows with anyone outside of their immediate family. If we all do it, no one will be offended or think we’re being rude!
Support for small shops
We are stepping up our Public Protection advice and support to small shops across the borough to ensure that measures such as wearing face coverings, social distancing, good hygiene practice and increased ventilation are being followed to help reduce the risk of virus spread in these businesses.
Testing
We are doing more targeted testing this week, with the arrival of a mobile testing unit at Witton Park Academy in addition to the testing facility at Royal Blackburn Hospital. You don’t need to have symptoms to be tested – this will help us with case finding, identifying people who have no symptoms but who carry the virus.
Boris Johnson has announced that coronavirus restrictions will ease further in England under plans for a “significant return to normality” by Christmas.
Blackburn with Darwen Council have today issued five measures, that will be in place for a month, aimed at avoiding a local lockdown and “getting a grip on the rise in cases of the virus”.
Following a moderate rise in cornonavirus cases, Blackburn with Darwen Council has warned that local people must remember the importance of sticking to the government’s rules – or risk facing a situation such as in Leicester.
The Government have announced a whole range of businesses and leisure facilities that can reopen in phases from next week.
Blackburn and Darwen Council have today published details of the reopening of some of their key services, including Town Halls and Libraries.
The latest reports from Springboard, the leading provider of data and intelligence on customer activity in stores and destinations, show that High Streets are still suffering the biggest reduction on footfall year on year.
Blackburn Empire Theatre is a charity and volunteer-led community theatre in the heart of Lancashire.
The first public act of worship since March 2020, led by the Bishop of Blackburn and including the installation of two Canons, took place at Blackburn Cathedral this morning.
Serving & supporting the local community for over 10 years.
