From Monday 14th September new rules will come into force which ban gatherings of more than 6 people in England.
The new limit (reduced from 30) will affect groups both inside and outside everywhere with a couple of exceptions. Exceptions are schools, workplaces or Covid-secure weddings, funerals and organised team sports. With fines starting at £100 per person breaking the rules.
All hospitality venues are included in the new rules, in itself this isn’t a disaster with a lot of people minimising groups in their venues to a max of 6 anyway. Don’t get us wrong it isn’t great, but we can’t be all doom and gloom. However it is important to ensure all staff in your venues are aware of the changes from Monday morning.
More worrying is what may follow.
There has been a big increase in confirmed Covid-19 cases with the 7-day average rising to 2,000 for the first time since the End of May.
This has led to these new rules and the government has already announced that the Prime Minister will be confirming the details at a news conference tomorrow but if the rate continues to rise it may not be the last time he bumbles his way through more restrictions.
What could happen?
The most recent area of the country to get hit by lockdown restrictions was Bolton earlier today and it was hospitality that got hit with the hardest restrictions.
From immediate effect in Bolton:
- All hospitality for food and drink will be restricted to take-away only
- Late-night restrictions of operating hours, meaning venues will be required to close between 10pm and 5am
It is important to stress that these restrictions have not been discussed (in public at least) in relation to the rest of the country but this is the most recent harsh restrictions we have to work with.
UPDATE: The Telegraph is reporting that the government is considering a national curfew.
So, let us all hope that these cases have peaked and that the government don’t knee jerk the hospitality industry in the Percy’s if they do continue to rise.
We will of course update you when the news conference is done tomorrow (must check gin levels).