COVID 19 Update 7th August 2020

Guidance on holidays in areas with local coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions in England

The Government has today published guidance for England on what people should do if they are on holiday in an area with local coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions or live in a restricted area and are planning on taking a holiday outside the area. The guidance covers:

Staying inside the area

Steps you should take

• If you live inside the area, you should only socialise indoors with members of your own household or support bubble.
• You can only stay in a private home – which includes self-catered accommodation such as holiday cottages, apartments or boats – with members of your own household or support bubble.
• You can stay in a hotel or similar accommodation (for example, a hostel or bed and breakfast) with another household, but should avoid sharing rooms with people you do not live with or otherwise socialising indoors, for example in each other’s rooms, in reception areas, or in restaurants and bars.
• Sharing a caravan with another household is being advised against. You should not share private vehicles to travel to your holiday destination.
• You can travel into an area with local restrictions on holiday. Whilst inside the area, you should follow the guidance set out above

Travelling outside the area

Steps you should take

• If you live inside an area with local restrictions, you can go on holiday outside that area but you should only socialise indoors with members of your own household or support bubble.
• You can only stay in a private home – which includes self-catered accommodation such as holiday cottages, apartments or boats – with members of your own household or support bubble.
• You can stay in a hotel or similar accommodation (for example, a hostel or bed and breakfast) with another household but should avoid sharing rooms with people you do not live with or otherwise socialising indoors, for example in each other’s rooms, in reception areas, or in restaurants and bars.
• Sharing a caravan or boat with another household is being advised against. You should not share private vehicles to travel to your holiday destination.

Advice for accommodation providers can be found in the Working Safely guidance.  Read the full guidance to find out more.

North West Lockdown Legislation

Here’s a link to the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions on Gatherings) (North of England) Regulations 2020 which set out the restrictions that apply to the North West Lockdown area. The legislation makes a distinction between private dwellings and tourism accommodation, with tourism accommodation being outside the restrictions on people meeting up in private dwellings. The first review of this legislation will be 19th August 2020.

Reopening update for Wales

Swimming pools, indoor fitness studios, gyms and leisure centres will be able to re-open from Monday 10 August, First Minister Mark Drakeford confirmed today (Friday 7 August). Children’s indoor play areas will also be able to open their doors again as part of the latest changes to the coronavirus regulations in Wales. However, areas such as ball pits, which cannot be easily cleaned, should remain closed.

The claims service for the Eat Out to Help Out scheme is now live.

If you have registered your establishment for the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme you can now submit claims.

What you’ll need to claim

You’ll need the records you’ve kept for each day you’ve used the scheme, including the:

• total number of diners (covers) who have used the scheme, including children
• total amount of discount you’ve given
• period you’re claiming for

If you’re making a claim for more than one establishment, you will need to have the:

• records for each establishment
• overall total value of the claim for all establishments ready before you claim

Travel corridors update for arrivals in England

Andorra, The Bahamas and Belgium will be removed from the exempt list for arrivals at 4am, 8 August 2020.

Mandatory Face Masks Tomorrow

The mandatory requirement to wear a face mask in certain locations comes into force tomorrow. They are required in:

• Indoor places of worship.
• Community centres including youth centres
• Public areas in hotels and hostels.
• Concert halls, exhibition halls and other public halls.
• Cinemas.
• Museums, galleries, aquariums, indoor zoos and visitor farms, and other indoor, or indoor parts of, tourist, heritage or cultural sites.
• Bingo halls.
• Public libraries and reading rooms.

Visitor Numbers to National Museums

DCMS has published new figures on visitor numbers to the National Museums for the period 27 July – 2 August. On the plus side, the Tate Galleries, Horniman and Science Museum Group have now reopened (although the visitor numbers for these are not yet available). However, for the four previously opened Museums, visitor number remain extremely low at an average of just 8.8% of what they would normally expect.

Social Impacts of Coronavirus

The latest update to the Government’s Social Impacts Survey has been produced. The key findings are that:

• 37% of people said they would feel comfortable or very comfortable eating indoors at a restaurant. This is an increase from 34% last week but will shows that public confidence is a real issue.
• Of those adults who had left their homes this week, 21% said they had visited a café, pub or restaurant. While this a significant improvement from 10% who said this three weeks ago, it is again still very low.
• 14% of people reported that they were worried about a possible job loss, which will have implications for people’s willingness to spend.

Next week’s figures for this survey will  provide us with a valuable insight as to the effectiveness of the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme in getting people to visit pubs and restaurants and shifting their perceptions regarding how safe it is to go there.

Public Sector Relief Scheme

This might be of interest to DMOs. The Government has announced a new relief scheme designed to enable the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to make payments on behalf of public sector employers where they have determined that their apprenticeship training provider(s) are critical suppliers. Where requested to do so, the ESFA will act as a facilitator for the payment of relief and operate the relief scheme by providing a set of eligibility criteria, as set out in this policy document, which both the public sector employer and apprenticeship training provider must meet if payments for relief are to be made.

Business Support by Region

The Treasury has published tables of business support by region. As would be expected, London and the South East are at the top of the tables from business support but it is interesting to note that less urban areas like the South West and the East of England are high up on the list for loans.  If you want a breakdown by local authority or constituency, you can find it here

Infection Levels in England and Wales

The Government has published research indicating that around 28,300 people in England have Coronavirus (1 in 1,900 individuals) and that there are around 3,700 new cases per day. It also notes that while rates of people testing positive have risen, there is evidence that this trend may be levelling off – which is good news in terms of businesses being able to continue to reopen.

On the issue of infection rates, the latest estimates of the R Number have also been produced which indicate a national number of 0.8 to 1.0 and a growth rate of 0% to -5%. However, within this South West looks like an area of slight concern with an R Number of 0.8-1.1 and a growth rate of -3 to +3

Other Government updates

• Data on COVID-19 Business Rates Relief has been made available
• Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) and Future Fund Scheme data is now available by Constituency.
• New information on how to calculate your claim for fixed pay employees who have worked enough overtime (in the tax year 2019 to 2020) to have a significant impact on the amount you need to claim for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Useful Home Office Links

• Link to all the UKPBS information for different groups : https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-points-based-immigration-system-employers-and-eu-citizens
• Link to the COVID visa advice- https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents
• Link to the 2025 Border consultation- https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/2025-uk-border-strategy-public-consultation

Situation update 7 August 2020

• To see the number of cases of COVID-19 in England and the UK visit the UK COVID-19 dashboard.
• To see the number of cases globally see the World Health Organisation dashboard.