CIEH issues coronavirus guidance

CIEH has issued guidance to its members and the wider public for attempting to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

CIEH is supporting the relevant public health agencies and health departments in each of the nations of the UK who are the lead agencies coordinating the public health and protection responses to coronavirus.

These are:

For England: Public Health England
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-list-of-guidance 

For Scotland: Public Health Scotland
https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/

For Wales: Public Health Wales
https://phw.nhs.wales/news/public-health-wales-statement-on-novel-coronavirus-outbreak-in-china/

For Northern Ireland: Public Health agency
https://www.publichealth.hscni.net/news/covid-19-coronavirus

The UK Coronavirus Action Plan can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-action-plan

CIEH’s guidance notes that coronavirus is fundamentally a public health issue and the appropriate agencies for advice and guidance to the general public, businesses and organisations are the public health agencies and Health Departments of the United Kingdom. The public should follow the advice and guidance provided by these relevant agencies.

In terms of travel advice, the public should follow the advice provided by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Although Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) do not have a lead role in tackling coronavirus, they do provide support to the relevant government agencies and organisations and will potentially play a role in local authority emergency plans for Infectious Disease, should these plans be actioned.

It is important to take a balanced and reasoned approach to combat the spread of coronavirus and follow and keep up to date with government advice as we start to progress from the Containment phase to the Delay phase.

CIEH will issue further guidance if necessary as the situation develops.