
Visit the government web site on CoVID-19 by clicking here
COVID-19 is a new illness that can affect your lungs and airways. It's caused by a virus called coronavirus.
The following has been taken from the NHS website.
Stay at home if you have coronavirus symptoms
Stay at home for 7 days if you have either:
- a high temperature – you feel hot to touch on your chest or back
- a new, continuous cough – this means you've started coughing repeatedly
Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.
You do not need to contact 111 to tell them you're staying at home.
Testing for coronavirus is not needed if you're staying at home.
If you need to self isolate then you need to inform your line manger/supervisor as soon as possible following normal sickness procedures. Your self isolation will be recorded as 'other sickness' on MyTime.
Tips for staying at home
It's important to stay at home to stop coronavirus spreading. Do not go out into the community. As you know social media is all around us these days with members of the public taking photos and videos. You need to be mindful that if you have self isolated and seen out in the community, you may face formal disciplinary action.

Do
- Try to keep 2 metres (3 steps) from other people in your home, particularly older people or those with long term health conditions
- Ask friends and family and delivery services to deliver things like food, shopping and medicines - but avoid contact with them
- Sleep alone if possible
- Regularly wash your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds
- Try to stay away from older people or those with long term health conditions
- Drink plenty of water and take everyday pain killers, such as paracetamol, to help with your symptoms
Don't
- Do not have visitors (ask people to leave deliveries at the door)
- Do not leave the house, for example to go for a walk, school or public spaces
If you have any questions concerning CoVID-19 the please contact us via the below contact form and we will get back you as soon as possible.
CoVID-19 News from Unite The Union WMP Branch
Any news that we have from the force will be published here. As you can imagine things are changing on a daily basis and we keep you updated as soon as we can.
Important: PSC Trade Union Side Bulletin
The joint Police Staff Council Unite, Unison and GMB yesterday released a CoVID-19 staff bulletin which concerns how nationally the unions are working for you during the CoVID-19 crisis.
To read the bulletin please click here
Update 17/02/2020
Those who are at an increased risk of severe illness from Coronavirus are advised to work from home and follow distant measures, those include: aged 70 or older (regardless of medical conditions) those who are pregnant under 70 with an underlying health condition listed below (ie anyone instructed to get a flu jab as an adult each year on medical grounds): chronic (long-term) respiratory diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema or bronchitis chronic heart disease, such as heart failure chronic kidney disease chronic liver disease, such as hepatitis chronic neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), a learning disability or cerebral palsy diabetes problems with your spleen – for example, sickle cell disease or if you have had your spleen removed a weakened immune system as the result of conditions such as HIV and AIDS, or medicines such as steroid tablets or chemotherapy being seriously overweight (a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or above) There are some clinical conditions which put people at even higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. If you are in this category, next week the NHS in England will directly contact you with advice the more stringent measures you should take in order to keep yourself and others safe. For now, you should rigorously follow the social distancing advice. Speak to your line supervisor as soon as possible before coming into the work place.Update 18/03/2020 - Training Days
Some staff will have been informed that their training days have been cancelled and you will need to perform your normal duties. Unite have been liaised with and are behind this decision to support other critical area's due to staff having to self-isolate. Training days do form part of your annualised hours of work. Please be assured that we do not take these decisions lightly and will do the best for everyone within the organisation. These are unprecedented times and as such difficult decisions will need to be made by everyone.Updated 18/03/2020 - ACAS
ACAS have today issued guidance in relation to Coronavirus. To view their website click on the box below or copy and past this link: https://www.acas.org.uk/coronavirusWarning: implode(): Invalid arguments passed in /homepages/36/d625205410/htdocs/clickandbuilds/wmpunite19271/wp-content/themes/x/framework/functions/helpers.php on line 299