COUNCIL leader Sean Fielding has hailed the health workers, council staff and volunteers battling the Covid 19 pandemic in Oldham and performing "miracles" by keeping services running.

Cllr Fielding was speaking at the first video media briefing since the UK went into lockdown and as the number of coronavirus cases in the borough hit 101.

He said: "It would be an understatement to say these are the most unusual times that I've been through.

"But it sounds a bit more serious when I say it is the most unusual times that my parents and grandparents have lived through too.

"This crisis has had massive implications for residents, business, voluntary groups and us as a council and the NHS and of course what we've seen is that ordinary people have temporarily suspended some of their personal freedoms as well ans stayed at home as much as possible to stop the spread of the virus."

And he went on: "But what's been really heartwarming to see is that while people have played their part by staying at home, hundreds of other local people have also stepped up, volunteering to help their own communities.

"Some people we're seeing simply checking on neighbours or doing a bit of shopping for them.

"Others have helped out at the hospital or at driving the van for the food bank. To see so many people wanting to help is really positive and it makes me feel really good about the place I've lived for all of this time and now lead the council in."

He also praised council staff for taking on different roles for the local authority.

Cllr Fielding continued: "We've done things like making sure that rubbish is collected which everyone expects, we've waived parking charges on town centre care parks and allowed people to defer council tax payments and now we're seeing if we can match firms with temporary workers because we've seen a rise in demand in certain sections of the economy.

"Another example is the way we've really quickly turned around and brought new services on line to help people at this time.

"We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to our staff and council staff's heroic efforts for adapting and changing through all of this in less than a fortnight taking on more or different responsibilities, to keep the schools running and the bins getting emptied, making sure that the crematorium's still running and all the vital services that people rely on.

"It's nothing short of a miracle that we're continuing to deliver so many of our front line services that people expect in the middle of this crisis. Thanks to the people of Oldham have stepped up and taken on responsibilities themselves by looking after their neighbours and friends."