City council issues advice ahead of Peterborough Black Lives Matter protest

The Black Lives Matters Protest is due to take place in Peterborough tomorrow (Saturday, June 6), at 1pm and Peterborough City Council has this evening issued a statement from the city’s director of public health giving safety guidance.

The city council statement said: “All forms of racial injustices are unacceptable to us.

“There is an understandable desire by some members of our community to peacefully protest. We are fully supportive of people’s desire to share their views with others peacefully.

“However, while the whole UK is in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown measures are still necessary to control the transmission of the virus, the Peterborough and Cambridgeshire director of public health is urging extreme caution.”

Public health director Liz Robin said: “It’s difficult to balance the desire to protest injustice against the risk of infection.

“I would ask local residents to carefully consider their heartfelt desire to join any peaceful protest against injustice, against the potential risks to themselves and risks they could take home to their loved ones from COVID-19 infection. National lock down measures to prevent the spread of infection are still that people should not gather outside in groups of more than six people, and those people should stay at least 2 metres apart from each other if they are from different households.”

“ We know from a recent Public Health England report that people from some black and minority ethnic communities are at higher risk of poor outcomes from Covid-19, and this is especially the case for people with diabetes and other long term health conditions.

“People gathering to protest – or gathering for any other sort of reason - cannot eliminate coronavirus risk. We know the strength of feeling about racial injustice and that Black Lives Matter protests have gone ahead in other parts of the country - so if people do choose to attend in Peterborough then public health advice would be to:

Stay at least 2m apart from others

Cover your mouth and nose with a home- made face mask - this won’t protect you from infection, but will help to protect others if you are carrying it.

Take and use hand sanitizer and avoid physical contact while greeting people, don’t shake hands, hug or kiss.

Don’t share food or drinks, take your own (reuseable) water bottle

Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, where the virus can enter the body.

Don’t use the same microphone that’s been touched by lots of other people.

Use social media avenue to share your views.

Stay outside, where the risk is lower than inside a building.”