What big business in Northampton are doing in response to the coronavirus outbreak

Big businesses in Northampton have responded to the coronavirus outbreak, with all saying they are following government advice.

Police, factories, sports teams, and health services are just a selection of the firms who will be affected by the pandemic and social distancing measures.

Superintendent Sarah Johnson from Northamptonshire Police said: “The response to the Covid-19/coronavirus is being led by Public Health England and policing nationally is working closely with them and the Government.

“In Northamptonshire, we are following the advice and guidance issued by Public Health England, including their guidance for first responders, and this, along with other relevant information, has been shared with all officers and staff.

“There are tried and tested plans and procedures that ensure police forces can continue to provide critical services in times of increased demand or if there are staffing capacity issues.

“We are currently operating as normal and continue to work closely with our local authority, health, emergency service and other partners that make up the Local Resilience Forum, to monitor the situation in Northamptonshire and to plan for any potential developments going forward, as the public would expect us to do.”

Carlsberg UK is one of the biggest employers in Northampton with its headquarters and factory in the town centre.

A spokesman said: “We remain fully operational in order to safeguard the continuity of supply and service to our customers.

"As always, our priority remains our employees’ health and safety.

"In line with the government’s advice on mitigating risks, we’ve taken a number of measures to ensure a healthy environment and adjusted ways of working to take correct precautions.

"This includes a daily briefing to all employees, increased hygiene processes and cleaning across all sites, suspension of non-essential international travel and encouraging employees that are able to do so to work from home.

"Our senior team will continue to monitor the impact of Covid-19 on a daily basis and take decisive action where appropriate.”

St Andrew's Healthcare runs St Andrew's Hospital and the other mental health sites at its Billing Road base.

A spokesman for the charity said: “We have well-established and tested pandemic preparedness and infection control plans in place, and have set up a central team to oversee all preparations.

"These have been supplemented by specific COVID-19 procedures to assist our ward and community teams with patient care.

“In line with current guidance from the Government staff are advised to self-isolate if they exhibit the specific Coronavirus symptoms – a new continuous cough and/or a high temperature of 37.8 degrees centigrade or higher.

“We have recommended that volunteers and visitors who are also showing these symptoms should not come to our sites.

"This is our general approach in order to prevent the spread of illnesses at one of our hospitals.”

The whole sporting world has been effectively shut down for the foreseeable future, including Formula 1.

Mercedes-Benz Motorsport is among the Northamptonshire teams facing uncertain times, with its base in Brackley.

A spokesman said: "We are monitoring and following the latest government advice on responses to the situation.

"All travellers returning from Melbourne will be self-isolating for 14 days, approximately 100 people across the team, to mitigate the associated risks.

"Self-isolating protocols are also in place for team members who have travelled recently to affected areas.

"We have had no cases so far within the team. For the foreseeable future, normal business operations will continue at the factory.

"We are in close dialogue with the FIA and F1 regarding the resumption of the season and rescheduling of the race calendar."