STAY at home!

It's the single most important thing you can do to save lives as the country's coronavirus crisis deepens, say Cumbrian health chiefs.

That message includes the need to people not to flock to the Lake District. Health officials from across Cumbria today stressed that following the ‘stay at home’ and social distancing guidance is the most important thing people can do prevent the NHS being overwhelmed, with the risk that if people ignore the advice the pandemic will last longer and cause more deaths.

Official figures show 58 people have died across the two NHS trusts with hospitals in the county.

Professor John Howarth, Strategic Incident Commander for North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Carlisle's Cumberland Infirmary and Whitehaven's West Cumberland Infirmary, said: “I know it's hard and many people are making difficult sacrifices but the message from me today is that you are saving lives now, right here in Cumbria, through your actions.

“Staying at home slows the transmission of coronavirus, and helps us reduce the number of cases we expect to see in the coming weeks and months.”

Richard Leaf, Chief Executive Officer of the Lake District National Park Authority, said:“The residents of the Lake District need the Great British public to respect Government advice. Please don’t travel to the National Park.

"An influx of day trippers coming into the park will inevitably mean people coming into close contact and we really should be avoiding that. Enjoy your weekends at home, the Lake District will be here for you when this is all over.”

Richard Warren, who represents the 12 Cumbrian mountain rescue teams, supported the message, saying: “We cannot stress enough the importance of staying at home. Last weekend across the whole of England and Wales there were only four callouts, with just one in Cumbria.

“The fells remain quiet and we thank the public for heading the advice to stay at home, protect the NHS and save the lives.”

There have been criticisms on some social media sites of police officers in the county who are trying to discourage unnecessary travel to prevent the spread of Covid-19 - but Cumbria’s Assistant Chief Constable Andy Slattery said his officers were simply trying to prevent new infections, protect the NHS and save lives."