HAVE a merry Christmas - but take extra steps to stay safe when meeting loved ones.

That's the main message from the borough council's health boss as people around the town make plans for the festive season.

Hundreds of new Covid cases are being confirmed in Swindon each week and new protective measures have been put in place to help stop the spread, but there are no strict rules for limiting households on December 25.

Instead, Swindon Borough Council's director of public health Steve Maddern suggested ventilating the rooms for 15 minutes every hour, regularly cleaning anywhere in the home which a lot of guests might touch, asking visitors to take lateral flow tests before they set off, and encouraging anyone who is unwell to stay away.

Mr Maddern added: "We didn't have a very good Christmas last year so we want families to really enjoy Christmas this year.

"But if you don't mix with them very often, then make sure you have safety steps in place in your household, such as ventilation.

"As grumpy as people will be, get those windows and doors open. I know it's chilly but that's what Christmas jumpers are for and all those socks people will get across Christmas.

"Last year, I was telling people not to play board games because of the potential transmission risk so we've moved on a little bit from there, but it's still important to have ventilation and vaccinations, keep touch-points clean, hands face space, all that.

"You don't need to limit family gatherings but people do need to think about vulnerable relatives - if you're having Grandpa and Grandma over, have they had their vaccinations and have you had yours?

"The opportunity to get them is now and if you're over 18, there's no reason why you can't. Other than that, have a great Christmas and New Year and have fun."

In the days leading up to Christmas, it would be best to keep socialising to a minimum to reduce the risk of falling ill and spoiling plans for important occasions.

Mr Maddern said: "The key message from Chris Whitty for Christmas was don't do things that don't have meaning to you.

"If you decide to attend events and catch Covid, that may prevent you from doing the things you really want to do across Christmas or New Year.

"We are not telling people to not do things, we're just saying be very mindful of the risk you're putting yourself at and remember the messaging.

"We are all prepared and braced for whatever the next step of the pandemic provides and we know it;'s been particularly challenging.

"The booster is really important but it's still just as important to remember the hands face space, ventilate, and testing messages as well.

"People may think the booster is a free pass to doing whatever they want across Christmas and New Year but it isn't. They still need to be applying those other guidelines as well."

The latest coronavirus statistics for Swindon show the borough's infection rate is 374.6 cases per 100,000 people as of yesterday - which is up from the 348.6 per 100k rate recorded last Friday but still much lower than the south west average of 538 per 100k and lower still than the England average of 550.7 per 100k.

Swindon has seen 835 new cases in the last week, particularly in SN2, SN3, SN4 and SN5 postcodes but less so in SN25.

The most common age bracket for these new cases is 40-to-49-year-olds rather than the five-to-14-year-olds, which are seeing fewer cases than before after a spike during the October half term, and the case rate for people aged 60 or over is very low.

In the last seven days, 29 schools reported a total of 174 coronavirus cases. There are 28 patients with Covid at Great Western Hospital, which is up from the 22 there last Friday), and no new deaths have been recorded within 28 days of patients catching the disease.

Mr Maddern thanked everyone working in health and social care, schools, care homes, local authorities, and the emergency services for helping to keep people safe this year.

He added: "Thank you as well to the residents of Swindon. Everyone has played their part in looking after themselves and each other."