Monday saw some of the biggest changes to restrictions since lockdown was implemented, with all non-essential retail shops allowed to reopen.

Newport, like all councils across Wales, has been working hard to help our shops reopen, as well as putting measures in place around the city centre to help people shop in confidence and safety.

Last Friday we launched our Shop Safe Newport campaign to encourage people to shop locally within the city. Our businesses are the lifeblood of our city’s economy, and it is vital now more than ever that we support them as much as possible.

We have put in place a range of measures to help both shoppers and businesses feel confident and secure when shopping and trading.

These measures include:

• an increased cleansing regime in key shopping areas and council car parks

• social distancing solutions for retail areas and transport hubs

• one way systems and/or footway widening in key pedestrianised areas

• anti-viral treatment of high frequency touch points such as handrails, bins, push buttons and seating, and

• assessments of businesses to ensure they are compliant with social distancing.

Our trading standards and licencing teams were out in the city centre earlier this week to provide support to those shops opening up for the first time in three months. We have also provided signage reminding people to remain socially distant when walking through our main shopping areas. This has been complimented by our partners at Newport Now, which has also been working closely with our traders to prepare for reopening, providing advice and social distancing signage for in-store use.

It is our hope that the safety measures we are implementing will help allay any fears people may have about returning to our city’s shopping areas. We want people to know that Newport’s shops are open for business, and to support our local economy as it looks to recover from the impact of Covid-19 and lockdown.

As with shops, we are working hard to reopen more of our city’s services. Gradually we have already been able to reopen our household waste recycling centre, and our managed park areas are now operating to normal opening hours. This week we will be holding our first formal virtual Cabinet meeting and will be discussing our Recovery Strategy.

We’re hopeful that the coming weeks will see us able to open more services, but we will only do so when it is safe, and only with measures that will support the ongoing fight against Covid-19.

For more information on Shop Safe Newport, visit www.newport.gov.uk/shopsafe.