The new regulations: coronavirus (covid-19)

 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.