THURROCK Council leader Cllr Rob Gledhill has welcomed news that Covid-19 cases are continuing to fall in he borough - and has repeated a message that it is now key that younger people get vaccinated.

That was a message flagged up by one of the youngster generation of Thurrock councillors, Adam Carter, in an online message to residents earlier this week.

And Cllr Gledhill has reiterated that the success of the battle against Covid can only properly be judged when as many people as possible have had the jab.

He says: "We have seen a welcome decrease in the number of people from Thurrock testing positive this week following a slowing of the increase last week. I hope that this trend will continue over the rest of the school holidays so that we will be in a good position as we head into autumn and winter.

"The warm weather, schools breaking up and the care and caution shown by the borough's residents have all played an important role in helping to reverse what was looking like an extremely worrying trend.

"Now we need to build on that success as we carefully navigate the pathway through summer. It is still important that we follow hands, face, space, fresh air advice and make sure we are doing all we can to protect ourselves and others.

"For many of us these actions have become second nature. Giving other people their distance, wearing face coverings in crowded indoor areas and on public transport – unless exempt – washing our hands for 20 seconds as soon as we arrive home and taking advantage of summer to meet friends and family outdoors are all still important.

"The other significant factor in helping to keep infections at bay is the rollout of the vaccine.

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"The take up has been fantastic although we are seeing a far slower take-up among younger people. I cannot emphasise enough that there are many significant benefits to taking up the offer of a vaccine: you will be protecting yourself, especially from the risk of being hospitalised if you contract the virus, you will be at less risk of spreading coronavirus to relatives or friends, you will be able to travel more freely and enjoy all that the summer holiday months have to offer."