A letter from Ansaf Azhar, Director for Public Health, Oxfordshire County Council

I am sure most residents of Oxfordshire are now aware of the government’s roadmap – a four step plan – to bring England out of lockdown.

During a year of unprecedented restrictions on our daily lives, to know there is now a plan to move us back to the lives we miss is welcome news.

Decisions will be guided by the data so that we do not risk a surge in infections and hospitalisations. For this reason, all the dates in the roadmap are subject to change.

Cases overall continue to decline across Oxfordshire, but the rate of decline seems to have slowed and it is not uniform across the county, so it is important that we all continue to follow the rules at each stage of the lifting of lockdown.

Maintaining your distance to covering your face when you go out is as important now as it ever has been. Every facemask and example of washed hands makes a difference, and each remains an important step in our route out of lockdown.