MEASURES to control any future virus outbreaks in the borough are set to be endorsed next week.

The top team at Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) will give its blessing to its own Outbreak Control Plan, which was developed at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care.

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BFC’s plan will be shared with the executive at a meeting on Tuesday, June 30, to allow councillors to provide feedback on it – so a final version can be rolled out and used if needed going forward.

Few details exist about the plan currently, but councillor Dale Birch, BFC’s adult services and health lead, said: “The outbreak control plan will set out how the council and its partners will work to quickly control and reduce the risk of the virus spreading within the community.

“This plan is just one of many we have under development to keep our residents as safe as possible, both now and in the future.

“I’d like to thank all Bracknell Forest residents for their commitment to adhering to the government restrictions so far.

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“Should we have to activate the outbreak control plan for any localised outbreak in the future, I’d like to ask that all residents engage as positively with the measures then as they have the past three months.”

At the same meeting, the executive is also expected to agree to roll out a residents’ survey which asks people how they have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

BFC bosses are set to agree to the survey so they can prepare priorities for the borough’s recovery over the next three years.

According to the latest data from the office for national statistics (ONS), 263 people have tested positive for covid-19 in Bracknell Forest and there have been 67 deaths which have been coronavirus-related.

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Lockdown has meant businesses have been forced to close and grants have been paid out to business owners and self-employed people, with money also made available for workers who have been furloughed from their jobs.

In the Bracknell constituency, 13,500 people have been in receipt of furlough money through the government’s job retention scheme, which covers 80 per cent of people’s wages.

More than 4,000 self-employed workers in the constituency are receiving grants worth around £14 million.