£2m emergency funding deal for Edinburgh to battle COVID-19 announced

The cash has been announced following growing concerns about the virus.

Edinburgh City Council is set to receive £2m in emergency funding to tackle Coronavirus.

An emergency funding deal of £2m has been announced by Edinburgh City Council as part of a move to tackle the potential impact of Coronavirus.

The Evening News understands that the funds have been made available from unallocated reserves at present to prepare for potential costs that may be incurred in response to the virus.

Andrew Kerr, the council’s chief executive, has exercised his powers in consultation with the Leader and Depute Leader to make the funds available.

Edinburgh City Council is set to receive £2m in emergency funding to tackle Coronavirus.

Leader of the council, Adam McVey, said: “This is an uncertain and worrying time for people working and living across the city.

“I want to reassure people that the council is doing everything it can to plan for every eventuality.

“We have not only developed plans but we have started to cost those actions should we have to deep clean one of our buildings, for example.

“We and our partners are working round the clock to ensure Edinburgh is ready for however the Coronavirus situation develops in the days, weeks and months ahead.”

He added: “The chief executive has taken the decision to make £2m available in the first instance to make sure we have the resources to deal with any eventuality.

“Our focus is on minimising the impact of the virus on our communities and Council services, with a particular emphasis on health and social care.

“This is a rapidly evolving situation and we’ll continue to send relevant information to staff, schools and on our dedicated web page.

“We’ll also continue to signpost official guidance like advice agencies and government in areas like travel advice and what we can all do to protect ourselves and others.

“This is a very challenging time for the city, and the world, but if we all pull together I know we will get through it.”

The cash comes after a meeting with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) and chief executives of councils across Scotland.

It also comes as the government looks set to move from the containment stage to the delay stage of measures to tackle to spread of Covid-19, likely to be announced following a Cobra meeting in Westminster this morning.

Other measures already undertaken at the council includes council employees being told to take laptops home every day after work due to the possibility all council buildings could be closed with immediate effect.