Eyke

EYKE

Eyke is a village located on the A1152 road near the town of Woodbridge.

Eyke Parish Council & Coronavirus (Covid 19) Pandemic

Whilst the virus is a very real threat and one that can affect young and old, according to the BBC fact checker Suffolk as at 22/3/20 had only fifteen confirmed cases from a population of over 780,000. BUT its not known how many are unaware they are spreading the disease because they are ‘asymptomatic’ nor how many have yet to show symptom’s or even those that may have had it without knowing it.

 In other words, anyone you have close contact with can pass the virus on!

The majority of services and funding in response to the virus is being directly channelled from central government through public services and to county and district councils in response to the threat that exists. The NHS and GP services via 111 or the emergency services via the 911 or 999 services are our first line of defence in fighting the disease.

The Parish council has little or no statutory role in much of this but the most significant one in terms of community cohesiveness and acting as a conduit to ensure all our parishioners do not get secluded and feel alone when following government advice to self-isolate and stay safe at all times. All the indications are that this fight against the virus is likely to run from weeks into months so we are increasingly looking at the longer-term implications at a community level.

So, your councillors want to encourage everyone to join one of the many groups that are already springing up to support each other at neighbourhood level and using email, text, and mobile telephone Apps to keep in contact whilst following the social distancing guidelines.

The BBC, ITN and Sky are providing credible & comprehensive Radio, TV and internet based information services but we urge you to treat all social media information with great care as it has not been verified in the same way.

To provide a further safety net at Parish level we are forming ‘Eyke Support’ which will be a telephone based network of volunteers who have agreed to have their telephone numbers published so that any vulnerable or isolated person in our community can call for help or advice on any virus related matter should they need it. We should emphasise this is a ‘support group’ not a 24-hour operation, but one we hope will grow and be of value to us all in helping each other if only to know where to go for help. We envisage members will be able to help with shopping, medication collection, dog walking, a friendly chat etc.

Councillor Sue Clark is co-ordinating this group and is asking for any further volunteers to contact her to be added to the list. There are no specific qualifications other than caring for others required, no one is an expert in this current emergency but helping each other through it in any way we may be able is central to coming out the other side of this global crisis.

Please also find attached details of local food takeouts and shops: local-facilities.pdf

COVID 19 Volunteers: