New national restrictions will apply in Merton and across the whole of England between 5 November until 2 December.

Everyone must stay at home as much as possible, only leaving for specific purposes, including shopping for food and medicines, exercise, to attend medical appointments and to provide care for vulnerable people.

Full details about the national restrictions and the number of new cases of COVID-19 reported in Merton are on our website: merton.gov.uk/coronavirus.

The Leader of Merton Council, Councillor Stephen Alambritis MBE, said: “We must all follow the national restrictions to help keep Merton safe. The weeks ahead will be difficult and require us all to significantly change the way we live our lives, but the sacrifices we make will be worth all our efforts to reduce the spread of the virus. Together, Merton will get through this with resilience and the determination to protect the most vulnerable residents in our communities.

“I would urge you to do all you can to support our local businesses. These new national restrictions will be devastating for many of the 6,000 businesses in Merton, many of which are small businesses, family firms and local companies. Since emerging from the spring lockdown, they have quickly adapted the way they trade, including setting up online, and pulled out all the stops to make their premises COVID-secure, but are now facing a very uncertain future at a time which would usually be the busiest trading period for many – the run up to Christmas. Shopping online, ordering a takeaway, rescheduling missed appointments for a future date, sharing their social media posts and leaving good reviews are all ways you can show your support and help traders to get through these tough times.”

To keep up to date with the latest situation, including changes to council services, sign up for our e-newsletter at merton.gov.uk/newsletter and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.