COVID ZERO: Southampton MPs back hospital's campaign

On July 1, University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust launched their own COVID ZERO campaign in a bid to bring healthcare services back to normal and make sure that both patients and staff are safe.

Now, Romsey and Southampton North MP, Caroline Nokes, and Southampton Itchen MP, Royston Smith, are urging residents to “play their part” in stopping the virus.

The campaign was launched to help reduce the risk of further infections in Southampton.

Its message for the Southampton community as well as the trust’s 11,500 staff is “walk, wear, wash”.

They should wear a mask where they can’t walk apart from others, and they should wash their hands as often as possible.

COVID ZERO, backed by the Daily Echo, aims to speed up the return of hospital services while keeping staff and patients safe from the threat of coronavirus.

Stopping further infections will mean staff who have been redeployed during the pandemic will be able to return to their regular roles.

Caroline Nokes said: “I think this is a brilliant campaign the trust has launched.

“We all have to play our part in stopping Covid and this is a great way to get the message across to everyone.

“We need our hospital services to be able to return to normal and following these really simple guidelines can really help.”

Royston Smith added: “I hope everyone will embrace this very sensible and well thought out campaign.

“This dreadful virus is likely to be with us for sometime, perhaps forever.

“We need people to be able to get back to hospital consultations and treatments as quickly and safely as possible.

“There are far too many people who have or are developing serious illnesses and aren’t seeking the medical treatment they need. I fully support University Hospital’s excellent campaign.”

The Daily Echo did approach MP for Southampton Test, Alan Whitehead, for a comment on the new ZERO COVID campaign but he did not respond before the paper went to print.