PHE statement on incident in Amesbury
6 Jul 2018 04:26 PM
Latest information on Public Health England’s involvement in major incident declared in Amesbury.
Latest update
Mike Wade, Deputy Director of Health Protection for PHE South West, said:
Our current advice, based on the small number of casualties affected, is that the risk to the public is low. We will keep this assessment under constant review as further information becomes known.
While there is no immediate health risk to anyone who may have been in any of the 5 locations identified by police today (Thursday 5 July 2018), as a highly precautionary measure we are advising that people who visited the sites between 10pm on June 29 and 6.30pm on Saturday, June 30, undertake the following actions.
If you visited any of the 5 locations identified by police you should:
- wash the clothing that you were wearing in an ordinary washing machine using your regular detergent at the temperature recommended for the clothing
- wipe personal items such as phones, handbags and other electronic items with cleansing or baby wipes and dispose of the wipes in the bin (ordinary domestic waste disposal)
- keep your items double-bagged and securely fastened, if they are dry-clean only (further details will follow)
None of these actions should damage your washing machine.
Other items such as jewellery and spectacles which cannot go in the washing machine or be cleaned with baby wipes, should be hand washed with warm water and detergent and then rinsed with clean cold water.
Please thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water after cleaning any items.
You do not need to seek advice from a health professional unless you are experiencing symptoms.
Locations identified by the police:
- Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury
- a property at John Baker House, Rolleston Street, Salisbury
- a property on Muggleton Road, Amesbury
- Boots the chemist, Stonehenge Walk, Amesbury
- the Baptist church on Raleigh Crescent, Amesbury
Wiltshire Police have established a helpline which can offer further advice: freephone 0800 092 0410 or 0207 158 0124.
Previous update
3 July 2018
Last night, Wiltshire Police and partners declared a major incident in connection with 2 people who fell ill in Amesbury.
Public Health England is working closely with both national government and local services to respond to this incident.
Mike Wade, Deputy Director of Health Protection in the South-West, said:
Our current advice, based on the number of casualties affected, is that it is not believed that there is a significant health risk to the wider public. We will keep this assessment under constant review as further information becomes known.