The virus is still with us

I’m sure you’ll have noticed media attention on the latest version of Covid-19, the so-called Indian or Delta variant. While the First Minister is damping down expectations of a return to a mask-free normal anytime soon, we have been actively dealing with an incident at Jack Murphy’s bar in Wind Street. The latest information is that 41 positive cases have been identified, though we do believe the incident is now under control. But what it shows is just how fragile the Covid-19 situation is. We cannot let our guard down either as individuals or as a council. Mark Wade, his team and the test, trace, protect team have done an outstanding job throughout the pandemic with the public health response, supporting businesses, the community and helping keep us safe. My thanks to them all.

Vaccination certification service

Staying with the virus theme our contact tracing and digital services teams are making it possible for thousands of Welsh people going abroad to get vaccination certificates in time for their trip. It’s a vital service for anyone in Wales as without a certificate many countries simply will not let you in. At Welsh Government’s request our teams set up the service from scratch in just over a week and already around 5,000 travellers have benefited. Forty staff are providing the service and it’s another example of how we can do things efficiently and at astonishing pace. It also demonstrates confidence that Welsh Government have in the council as they specifically asked us to do this for the whole of Wales. Thanks to Adam Hill, Hywel Lewis and the teams who’ve been working on this.

Regional collaboration

Negotiations on regional working are continuing at pace. Welsh Government has accepted our £250,000 bid and will help us develop the Corporate Joint Committee approach. The coming weeks will be vital and huge thanks are due to Martin Nicholls and Tracey Meredith who have been leading on this issue for the region.

Skyline

This week the Leader and I were delighted to host a visit to Swansea by Nick Swallow, New Zealand’s government Trade and Enterprise commissioner. He was here to discuss progress on the Skyline visitor attraction proposed for Kilvey Hill and to look at the financial package with Welsh Government. We’re in constant contact with New Zealand about the proposal which would be a massive boost for Swansea as we emerge from the pandemic. The Swansea Arena alongside Skyline would give us a great opportunity to be a brilliant destination of choice.  Let’s hope we can get this project over the line soon.

Thank you

Well done to our city centre rangers who’ve rightly been praised by local police for helping to save a man’s life. A swift and effective response by rangers saw the critically ill man given CPR with the help of a defibrillator.

It’s goodbye to two members of staff Phil Owen and John Gibbs who are retiring after clocking up almost 90 years’ service to the people of Swansea. Phil is retiring after 46 years, first with highways and then with the cleansing team. John has worked for the council for 43 years and most recently looked after external facilities and survey work for housing. Thank you both for your service. Enjoy your retirement.

The Euros

Good luck to our national football team who kick-off their European Football Championship campaign tomorrow against Switzerland in Baku. Let’s hope we can do even better than last time. C’mon Wales!