THE people of Swindon have been urged to be "responsible” when lockdown eases on Monday.

The town's Covid case rate is among the highest in the region but has dropped in recent weeks, ahead of the reopening of non-essential shops, pubs, hairdressers and gyms.

Speaking to reporters yesterday morning, the council’s director of public health Steve Maddern revealed there had been no outbreaks in Swindon over the past seven days. 

He said: “It’s really fantastic, it’s probably the first week that we haven’t, so I’m going to celebrate that.

“I was very surprised to see my outbreak report and see that we had no issues. 

“We’ve seen a fall in cases across all Swindon postcodes which is really encouraging.”

Monday marks the second stage of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown and follows the reopening of schools in March.

Mr Maddern added: “The local authority has been doing a lot of work with businesses to make sure that they are ready to receive residents back in their businesses. 

“We’ve been engaging with these businesses be that catering, retail to make sure they are in a good place to protect themselves but also to protect their customers, we’ll see a more increased presence around the town centre as of Monday. 

“So our Covid marshals will also be present around the town to make sure that people are adhering to the hand face space message and they will be handing out additional hand gel and face masks for those people who do not have them. 

“It seems like we’re in a good place to prepare for that further opening of the economy but reminding people that Covid hasn’t gone away, the case rate for Swindon does remain high in comparison to other areas, do enjoy what this new freedom brings, but please do it responsibly as well.”

Mr Maddern said people should enjoy the "new freedom” while remaining cautious and following the Covid guidelines in place. 

He added: “We appreciate that people have been cooped up for a very long time and to be able to go out and about and to visit family and friends is really important for mental health and physical health. But you’ve got to remember all the Covid guidelines that are still in place. 

“We won’t get to the end of the roadmap unless people continue to follow the rules, so do take the opportunity to enjoy the relaxation of the rules but you still need to comply with the hand, face, space message.”

The borough’s seven-day rolling infection rate is 44.1 cases per 100,000 people, down from 69.3 last week. 

More than 100,000 have now received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine in Swindon. 

Mr Maddern said: “It is almost half of our population, which is really fantastic that they’ve been able to achieve that in such a short time frame.”