Key workers warn 'it's not over yet' as area of Tees Valley highlighted as one of England’s most likely hotspots to ignore government advice

Staff and children of workers from local NHS Trusts, the police, fire brigade, local councils, media and shop workers have released a collaborative video in which they appeal for residents to stick to social distancing and ultimately save lives.

Their message is ‘this isn’t over yet, don’t undo the good work to date’.

It comes as Teesside and the North East is reported to have the highest coronavirus infection rate in the UK, with just over 9,000 confirmed cases to date.

And the Tees Valley has been highlighted as one of England’s most likely hotspots to ignore government advice to stay home with the figure at 25% of people for Middlebsough according to data from an app measuring people's behaviour.

Julie Gillon, Chief Executive of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, said: “When our initial campaign was launched we were planning to ensure that our region would be safe, that our services would be future proofed.

“We now need to come together as key workers more than ever to protect the Teesside population, to keep our key worker colleagues safe.

“As a combined voice, working together we can enact this.”

The new video has been released on YouTube. A series of images that offer locally inspired suggestions about what two metres apart might look like are also being shared by the key workers across social media.

Chief Superintendent Thom McLoughlin, Head of Local Policing at Cleveland Police, added: “Even when you leave your home, you need to continue social distancing and keep at least two metres away from other people to protect yourself and others.

“We’ve been supporting over half a million people in the Cleveland area to do the right thing and help save lives and their response has been heroic.”

It comes as businessman and Dragons Den star Duncan Bannatyne has thanked the North Tees and Hartlepool hospital trust on Twitter for their care of his baby grandaughter with a respiritory virus. She tested negative for Covid-19.

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