PLANS are being made by Powys County Council to prepare for Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The council’s chief executive, Dr Caroline Turner, explained how plans were being put into place to minimise the risks of infection in the county.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, March 3, Dr Turner said: “The governments are publishing their plans on how to deal with Coronavirus across the UK.

“That will give us a lot more information of what we need to do and what the scenarios could be.

“As far as I’m aware there’s still only one confirmed case in Wales, but we’re clear as a county council, that we need to prepare and play our part in wider preparations with our partners.

The virus, officially called Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), started in China and is now affecting around 80 countries across the world. The UK currently has just over 50 cases of infection, with only one case being confirmed in Wales last week.

Dr Turner added: ““Since last week we have started having internal meetings to prepare in case there are outbreaks here,

“We are part of the local resilience forum so we’re working with a range of partners to exchange information and plan jointly.

“We are also working closely with Powys Teaching Health Board  (PTHB) who are the lead partner in any activities within Powys itself.

“In terms of the councils role, we need to be mindful what this means to our workforce and we need to give advice to our schools,

“We also need to make sure our staff are available to support communities”.

Dr Turner also reassured that the council is preparing for the virus, and that plans were being discussed about working during an outbreak.

“There’s a lot of activity, a lot of discussions going on and we’ll do our best to make sure we’re as prepared as possible to support our workforce and communities,” said the chief executive.

Council leader, Councillor Rosemarie Harris wanted to remind all at the meeting yesterday that the Emergency Planning Team leading on Coronavirus was the same which had been dealing with the recent flooding incidents.