Major incident declared in Sussex in response to covid-19 pressures
Public services may now call for more help from central government
Last updated 6th Jan 2021
A major incident has been declared in Sussex due to the pressures Covid-19 is putting on the county.
The Sussex Resilience Forum declared the incident on Wednesday (December 6th) following a sharp increase in the rate of infection across Sussex.
Partners at the forum says declaring a major incident now allows them to plan for pressures on public services to increase.
Plans now may include making more use of volunteers and calling on central government for more help.
A major incident was also declared in Summer last year.
Assistant Chief Constable Dave Miller, from the Sussex Resilience Forum, said:
“Our focus, as ever, is on working together to protect people in Sussex in every way we can.
"The pressures on the whole system of health and social care are facing this winter are unprecedented and while our services are managing, we know that challenges are only likely to increase in the short term.
"By declaring a major incident, we can put ourselves on the strongest possible footing to combine our efforts and resources to keep people and public services in the best possible health.”