It has been great to see so many of our local businesses re-opening in Watford over the last few weeks and I am sure many of you will be excited to get back to some sense of normality.

However, we must all remember that Covid has not disappeared and is an ongoing problem.

Cases have unfortunately begun to rise again in Watford, as with the rest of the country, and we have seen a small number of cases of the Indian variant locally as well.

I would urge you all to remain cautious when going out and meeting up with friends and family.

There are three key things we should all think about doing to play our part in keeping case numbers low:

Get your vaccine as soon as you are able to and make sure you get both doses to get the maximum protection

Where possible continue to mix with others in outside spaces as this is much safer than indoors

When you are mixing with others inside, for example at a supermarket, keep wearing face masks and maintaining a social distance whenever possible

One in three people with Covid don’t show symptoms, but could be passing it onto other people. We are therefore fortunate to have access to testing for asymptomatic (without symptoms) people.

If you are starting to go into work, or coming into contact with more people, then it is a good idea to undertake lateral flow tests twice a week. You can have these tests posted directly to you via the government website, or you can go to our rapid testing centre in the Atria, above Wilko. Testing is quick and easy to do and could save someone’s life.

Let’s all continue to do the right thing to keep Covid under control in Watford.

Peter Taylor is the elected mayor of Watford.