Eastbourne MP reacts to ‘major incident’ update

A major incident was declared in Sussex on January 6 as rising Covid infection rates see the county face ‘unprecedented pressures’.

The Sussex Resilience Forum (SRF), which co-ordinates and communicates between health, emergency services, local authorities and other partners, agreed to declare the incident in response to the high and increasing rate of infection across Sussex.

This will allow public services to make exceptional preparations for a potentially worsening situation, a spokesman said.

Assistant Chief Constable Dave Miller, from the Sussex Resilience Forum, said, “Our focus, as ever, is on working together to protect people in Sussex in every way we can.

“The pressures on the whole system of health and social care are facing this winter are unprecedented and while our services are managing, we know that challenges are only likely to increase in the short term.

“By declaring a major incident, we can put ourselves on the strongest possible footing to combine our efforts and resources to keep people and public services in the best possible health.”

In response to the changes, Caroline Ansell said, “This is the clearest local indication why the government has undertaken this latest lockdown and how I am happy to support those restrictions.

“Sussex has been struggling to contain infections for some weeks and the declaration of a major incident is one of the tools our Covid frontline organisations have at their disposal.

“It’s right for it to be used to reflect the serious sustained pressure the NHS is now under and real concerns it might soon be worse.

“I have every confidence in our NHS, emergency services and other related organisations in Sussex because it’s clear they fully understand the position right now.

“It is also a very strong public message about what we all need to do to stop infections and deaths in our communities.

“This is a very serious situation and this latest development is a flag in the ground that more support might be required.

Ms Ansell said people must stay at home, wash their hands regularly, keep a distance from people when outside and self-isolate and book a test if symptoms develop.