Monmouthshire County Council leader thanks staff and public

The leader of Monmouthshire Council has thanked council staff, key workers and the wider public in the first cabinet meeting since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The county council leader Peter Fox addressed the other cabinet members and called for a “short period of reflection” in the meeting for those that have lost their lives in the pandemic.

Cllr Fox said: “This is unprecedented times and I think it’s important we take some time to reflect on it all.

“Every day is a new step on our journey into this new normality, a situation that none of us could ever have imagined, a period that will mark history in the same way as world wars did.”

Cllr Fox said there was still “a long way to go before we approach anything that really resembles life as we knew it just a couple of months ago.”

He gave thanks to the NHS and the role of doctors and nurses in saving people’s lives during the pandemic.

On Tuesday there were 16 new cases of coronavirus in Monmouthshire – the third highest in Wales.

Cllr Fox said this was a “stark reminder that we are not out of the woods by a long way”.

The leader of the council also praised the local workforce with teachers, social care staff, council workers among the many mentioned.

He said: “In Monmouthshire our workforce has been fantastic, rising to unprecedented challenges, doing an absolutely brilliant job.

“There are so many staff who have been working flat out, our community support teams and the huge volunteer effort providing crucial help and support to the vulnerable in society and manning and supporting things like the food banks.

“But still that work goes on. Our personnel team is still supporting everybody out there.

“All that I’ve mentioned have been supplemented by so many others in our communities including the wider voluntary sector, our partner public servants those in the police, the fire service the armed forces and the list just goes on.

“I want to say thank you to everyone who has pulled together for this massive Monmouthshire effort.”