Superintendent Mike Walker has thanked the public of North Yorkshire for all their efforts so far to suppress the spread of Covid and called for a continued, united response from the region.
Commenting on the forthcoming lockdown, which starts at midnight tonight and the approach the force will take to policing the new regulations, he said:
“On Saturday we heard the Prime Minster and our leading health officials outline the national Covid picture and explain why it’s necessary for us to enter into a second national lockdown.“We have been asked to once again stay at home to save lives and protect our NHS. It’s a message we all know and understand well and one that here in North Yorkshire, the vast majority of residents have complied with.“While the number of cases in North Yorkshire had not been as high as some our neighbouring regions, we still have lost lives to this virus. I know I am not alone when I say that any life lost is one too many. That’s why as a force, North Yorkshire Police remains committed to policing the Covid regulations and keeping the public safe.“We will be increasing our patrols and will continue to use our approach of engaging, explaining and encouraging the public. Officers will be proportionate and fair in their approach, but let me be clear, where breaches have taken place and lives put at risk, we will take enforcement action.“To those who may be thinking that tonight presents an opportunity to throw caution to the wind and have a last ‘blow out’ before lockdown – just take a moment to consider where we are right now. We are still seeing increases in the number of cases and our hospitals are caring for increasing numbers of Covid patients. We are in a serious position now and we need to pull together to ensure no more lives are lost and our NHS isn’t overwhelmed. It doesn’t take many people choosing to flout the rules to seriously impact our health service and our chance of suppressing the virus. That in turn jeopardises all of our chances of being able to see our loved ones again and returning to some kind of ‘normal’ life.“Please can I remind you, until the national lockdown comes into effect at midnight tonight, the original tier 1 and 2 regulations remain in place and police will be enforcing them.“We all know what we need to do now, we’ve done it before. We have successfully suppressed this virus once and we can do it again.”
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