Dr Nick Balac, local GP in New Lodge and chair of Barnsley clinical commissioning group appears on the front of Barnsley Chronicle today, highlighting the way services are changing to protect patients and staff.

“These are unprecedented times. That’s something we’ve heard a lot of over these past few weeks. Unprecedented times require unprecedented measures.

We are all being asked to behave and act in a way that we never have before. We might be living differently yet the one thing I have seen, throughout all of this, is the sense of community, good will and support we have for each other in Barnsley. It’s this determination and our willingness to look out for our friends, family and neighbours in times of hardship that will get us through this. And we will get through this. If we follow the guidance, can show understanding to others when we’re feeling anxious and above all look after ourselves, we will have done ourselves proud in Barnsley.

During this time, all health and social care services have had to adapt very quickly and will continue to do so. They have had to change to protect both patients and staff. We need you to support us with those changes too. Remember, these are unprecedented times.

In this week’s edition of Barnsley Chronicle we have tried to bring you a snapshot of just some of things that you might experience differently with our local services. All GPs and pharmacies will, where they can, be open today and on bank holiday Monday. There’s also a directory of some of the key numbers you might need on the back page. I know there is so much information out there, so I hope you find this useful.

It also includes some very clear advice about why we need you to continue to stay at home. The effects of social distancing can only be seen after a few weeks following introduction. In common with the rest of the country, in South Yorkshire we continue to see a rise in cases of COVID-19, and sadly deaths and my thoughts go to all those families and friends who have had to go through this.

The vast majority of people dying now are likely to have been infected prior to the introduction of social distancing measures. It can take up to 14 days to show symptoms after coming into contact with the virus and then further days for a person to recover – longer where people experience complications of the virus that can sadly lead to death.

The effectiveness of social distancing measures relies on us all playing our part. We must all continue to stay home in order to see the measures having an impact: protecting the NHS and saving lives.

I am immensely proud of everyone working together in Barnsley during this pandemic. These photos represent all of us when we say thank you for staying home."

Thank you to all the key workers who sent us their photos.