After last night’s semi-announcement, this afternoon details were released about the latest social distancing rules for coronavirus in England.
It’s been a while since we sat here typing away, drinking a gin and tonic whilst the man who made the word gormless his own speaks to the nation. The Blonde Moron was back on our screens today due to the rise in infection rates in England in particular, and the announcement made by the government last night.
This announcement was specific to England, coming into force on Monday 14th September and pushed back the numbers of groups who could gather together to 6. It covered most situations including hospitality, but the finer details were not clear. Hence this briefing, yep we’re relying on the 3-phrase moron to be clear. Let’s see how he did:
Headlines:
- No groups bigger than six. Inside or out. The 30 rule is gone.
- This is now a legal requirement, not a suggestion. Potentially useful for anyone having to enforce house rules.
- A group of 6 can now be from any number of households (presumably up to 6….). Easier to manage.
- You are now legally required to request the contact details of a member of every party (not just per household). Time to review your entry system, this could be a giant ball ache (note legally required to request, we will look into this more).
- Venues breaking the rules will be fined if they don’t follow these rules and can be shut down (enforced by local councils), the people breaking the rules will also be fined.
- Covid Marshalls will be employed to make sure this is enforced (run by local councils).
- A review of larger audiences at gigs, conferences etc to be reviewed by October 1st
This is to avoid a country-wide return to a lockdown.
According to Chief medical Adviser Prof. Chris Whitty, we can expect the rules to stay in place for months rather than weeks as we move into Autumn and Winter, a time in which this kind of virus ‘thrives’.
To be fair all of that was reasonably clear. I mean it was no Camper English ice programme clear but hell, Boris is usually the equivalent of Wetherspoons ice.
It is important not to panic about the latest figures as the BBC pointed out in an article yesterday .
But it is also important to take this rise seriously. We need this spike to end or there will be more restrictions so let’s get behind these new rules and remind our staff of what the house rules are.
No doubt there will be more information to come and we will as always be here to let you know what they are.