It can be difficult to keep up with the new government regulations about
covid-19.
Below is a re-cap from the government web site which can be found at
this link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-covid-19-what-has-changed-22-september?medium=email&source=GovDelivery
It is critical that everybody observes the following key behaviours:
- HANDS - Wash
your hands regularly and for at least 20 seconds.
- FACE - Cover
your face in enclosed spaces, especially where social distancing may be
difficult and where you will come into contact with people you do not
normally meet.
- SPACE - Stay
2 metres apart where possible, or 1 metre with extra precautions in place.
Face Coverings
- Customers
in private hire vehicles and taxis must wear face coverings (from 23
September).
- Customers
in hospitality venues must wear face coverings, except when seated at a
table to eat or drink. Staff in hospitality and retail will now also be
required to wear face coverings (from 24 September).
- People
who are already exempt from the existing face covering obligations, such
as because of an underlying health condition, will continue to be exempt
from these new obligations.
- Guidance
stating that face coverings and visors should be worn in close contact
services will now become law (from 24 September).
- Staff
working on public transport and taxi drivers will continue to be advised
to wear face coverings.
Working from home
To help contain the virus, office workers who can work effectively from
home should do so over the winter. Extra consideration should be given to those people at higher risk.
Businesses
- Businesses
selling food or drink (including cafes, bars, pubs and restaurants),
social clubs, casinos, bowling alleys, amusement arcades (and other indoor
leisure centres or facilities), funfairs, theme parks, adventure parks and
activities, and bingo halls, must be closed between 10pm and 5am. This
will include takeaways, but delivery services can continue after 10pm
(from 24 September).
- In
licensed premises, food and drink must be ordered from, and served at, a
table.
- Customers
must eat and drink at a table in any premises selling food and drink to
consume on site (from 24 September).
- Businesses
will need to display the official NHS QR code posters so that customers
can ‘check-in’ at different premises using this option as an alternative
to providing their contact details once the app is rolled out nationally
(from 24 September).
- Businesses
and organisations will face stricter rules to make their premises COVID
Secure (from 28 September):
- A wider range of leisure and entertainment
venues, services provided in community centres, and close contact
services will be subject to the COVID-19 Secure requirements in law and
fines of up to £10,000 for repeated breaches.
- Employers must not knowingly require or
encourage someone who is being required to self-isolate to come to work.
- Businesses must remind people to wear face
coverings where mandated.
Meeting people safely
- Support groups must be limited to a
maximum of 15 people (from 24 September).
- Indoor
organised sport for over 18s will no longer be exempt from the rule of
six. There is an exemption for indoor organised team sports for disabled
people (from 24 September).
- There
will be a new exemption in those areas of local intervention where
household mixing is not allowed to permit friends and family to provide
informal childcare for children under 14 (from 24 September).
- Weddings
and civil partnership ceremonies and receptions will be restricted to a maximum
of 15 people (down from 30). Other significant standalone life events will
be subject to the ‘rule of six’ limits, except funerals (from 28
September).
How long
should I self-isolate?
Self-isolating means staying at home and not
leaving it.
People who
have symptoms of coronavirus should isolate themselves for 10 days and
arrange to get tested. Symptoms
include:
§ a new continuous cough
§ a high temperature
§ a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell
Other members of their household should isolate for
14 days and not leave their homes.
The Rule of Six (RoS)
When seeing friends and family you do not live with you should:
·
meet in groups of 6 or less
·
follow social distancing rules when you meet up
·
limit how many different people you see socially
over a short period of time
·
meet people outdoors where practical: meeting
people outdoors is safer than meeting people indoors because fresh air provides
better ventilation
Limits on the number of people you can see socially
have changed. When meeting friends and family you do not live with (or have
formed a support bubble with) you must not meet in a group of more than 6,
indoors or outdoors. This is against the law and
the police will have the powers to enforce these legal limits, including to
issue fines (fixed penalty notices) of £200, doubling for further breaches up
to a maximum of £6,400.
There are exceptions where groups can be larger than 6 people. These
include:
·
for work, or the provision of voluntary or
charitable services
·
registered childcare, education or training
·
supervised activities provided for children,
including wraparound care, youth groups and activities, and children’s
playgroups
·
providing support to a vulnerable person
·
providing emergency assistance, and to avoid injury
or illness or to escape risk of harm
·
for arrangements where children do not live in the
same household as both their parents
·
fulfilling a legal obligation, such as attending
court or jury service
·
elite sporting competition and training
·
wedding and civil partnership ceremonies and
receptions – up to 15 people
·
funerals – up to 30 people. This does not include
wakes, other than for religious ceremonial purposes
·
exercise classes, organised outdoor sport or
licensed outdoor physical activity, and supervised sporting activity (indoors
or outdoors) for under-18s
·
indoor organised team sports for disabled people
·
support groups of up to 15 participants – formally
organised groups to provide mutual aid, therapy or any other form of support.
This includes support to victims of crime, recovering addicts, new parents,
people with long-term illnesses, those facing issues relating to their
sexuality or gender, and those who have suffered bereavement.
·
protests – if organised in compliance with COVID-19
Secure guidance. All individuals must be socially distanced
Where a group includes someone covered by such an exception (for
example, someone who is working), they are not counted as part of the
gatherings limit. This means, for example, a tradesperson can go into a
household of six without breaching the limit, if they are there for work.
Government has announced an initial £60 million to support additional
enforcement activity by local authorities and the police.
The spread of the virus is also affecting our ability to reopen business
conferences, exhibition halls and large sporting events, so we will not be able
to do this from 1 October.
The government’s expectation is the measures described above will need
to remain in place until March.
