Coronavirus Update

Dundee City Council is working closely with partners across the city to deal with the growing impacts of Coronavirus (Covid-19).

Officers are monitoring the local situation daily and following the advice given by government and NHS public health experts. The council continues to consider appropriate actions based upon the national guidance.

As of today it has been decided that:

Community centres will close from tomorrow (Friday) at noon;

Dundee & Angus Independent Living and Equipment Centre (DAILCEC) will be closed to members of the public;

food waste collections will cease; and

the focus will be on delivering priority services.

All community centres in the city will close completely until further notice on Friday (March 20).

The Dundee & Angus Independent Living and Equipment Centre (DAILCEC) will be closed to members of the public from Friday 20th March until further notice. Service users are advised to call us on either 307645/307646 or email sw.otclerical@dundeecity.gov.uk

All food waste collections will stop from next week to allow prioritisation of general waste collections. We would ask all householders to combine food waste with their general waste rather than presenting their kitchen caddies.

While we focus on delivering priority services, it may take us longer than normal to respond to other service requests, enquiries and complaints.

Leader of Dundee City Council John Alexander said: “It is clearly not business as usual and I would like to thank everyone for their help and understanding during these difficult times.

“Covid-19 is already having a significant impact on all our lives and how we respond to this situation will be the measure of our city.”

UPDATE TO SERVICE DELIVERY

THE OUTBREAK of Coronavirus (Covid-19) is having a significant impact on Dundee City Council and its partner agencies. Greatly increased staff absence levels are already being experienced, and this trend is expected to continue over the coming days and weeks.

National modelling estimates that councils will see absences of at least 50% over the months ahead. As a result, we will no longer be operating under “business as usual” in order to focus on essential services.

In line with current Government guidance, a number of Dundee City Council staff who are at a higher risk from Coronavirus have been advised to follow self-isolation measures. This group of people include those who are pregnant or have a specific underlying health condition.

Anyone with any of the Coronavirus symptoms is also advised to stay at home for seven days and their other household members for 14 days.

In addition to this group, many council staff are also parents and will from next week have additional child care responsibilities, due to the national decision to close all schools and nurseries after tomorrow (FRIDAY).

All these factors will significantly impact on the ability of the council and its partners to carry out our core functions. We ask that everyone is patient and understands that we are prioritising services based on need.

The council will continue to focus on critical services, caring for the vulnerable, cooperating with our resilience partners and supporting economic recovery.

To enable this, responses to enquiries or complaints about our current service provision may not be responded to within our normal timetables. Please follow our social media channels and check the website for regular updates.

Some face to face services at Dundee House, East Office and West Office will be unavailable from the end of the day tomorrow (Friday). Members of the public are encouraged to use our online and telephone services at www.dundeecity.gov.uk and 433558.

The cash office will remain open in Dundee House to deal with Scottish Welfare Fund Crisis Grants.

We are aware that many people are keen to do what they can to support communities, within the constraints of the complex situation we are in.

We are playing our part in a collective city response which is urgently being finalised, and will ensure this is promoted to communities so that people are clear where to get help and how they can help themselves.

In these unprecedented times, the support of communities as we and our partners focus our limited resources on those most in need is appreciated.

Dundee Reaction to John Swinney Statement

A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “We are making progress in dealing with this unprecedented situation and we are looking at how we best use our schools to support vulnerable children, pupils completing SQA coursework and assessments and children of key workers.

“Since the announcement was made yesterday, we have moved to identify those vulnerable young people who would receive support while the schools are closed.

“The council is talking to our emergency and key services and other partners to identify the families for whom childcare would allow them to remain in their frontline critical jobs.

“We are also exploring how to best get food, or equivalent, to children who are entitled to free school meals.

“Schools are helping all pupils with work and online support to help in the continuity of their education, with many examples of creative thinking being shown by our staff.

“We understand that school closures will have childcare implications for many families across the city, and we are making every effort with our partners to help them through this extremely challenging time.

"We are discussing the recent announcement with head teachers and trade unions and will be providing further details on Friday that will cover the arrangements for the last week of the school term.

"During the next few days we will be working with partners to finalise arrangements for the Easter break and beyond.”