COVID-19 Update 15th October 2020
- Updated List of High and Very High Alert Areas in England
Following this morning’s announcement of various areas including London, York, Derbyshire and Essex moving to the High Alert level, the Government has updated the list of areas under all three alert levels which includes a list of sub-regions.
It is important to note that the Government’s postcode tracker that details the Covid Alert status of areas only states the current status of an area – ie., it does not indicate the changes announced today and coming into effect this weekend. Therefore, businesses should not use it to check bookings that they have.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/full-list-of-local-covid-alert-levels-by-area
- Liverpool Fund
The details of the £40m fund for hospitality and Tourism businesses in Liverpool have been published and includes the following requirements:
- Small and micro hospitality and leisure businesses
- Based in the Liverpool City Region – Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral
- One full time equivalent employee or more
- Going concern
- Business to consumer
- Trading from a commercial premises
The guidance includes a list of eligible business types and I’m in the process of trying seek clarification as to whether this list is definitive or whether other tourism businesses can apply.
https://liverpool.gov.uk/media/1359765/hospitality-and-leisure-support-grant-guidance-notes.pdf
- Travel Corridor Update
DFT have updated the Travel Corridor list, removing the following countries from the list countries exempt from quarantine:
- Italy
- San Marino
- Vatican City State
They have also added the following countries to the exemption list:
- Crete
All changes apply in England only and will be effective from 04:00 on Sunday 18th October.
- Visitor Economy Guidance Update
The Primary Guidance for Visitor Economy businesses on working in a Covid Safe manner has been updated to include guidance for event organisers and local authorities on outdoor events. This guidance is in Annex A and sets out ten steps for businesses to take in order protect staff and customers. These being:
- Complete a COVID-19 risk assessment, taking into account emergency situations and any security risks
- Consult with your local authority as early as possible.
- Engage with neighbouring businesses, transport operators and Local Transport Authorities
- Clean more often
- Ask your customers to wear face coverings
- Make sure everyone is social distancing.
- Let customers know that by law they can only visit in groups of up to 6 people
- Increase ventilation
- Meet NHS Test and Trace requirements
- Turn people with coronavirus symptoms away.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/the-visitor-economy
- Updated Guidance for Places of Worship
The Guidance on the safe use of places of worship has been updated to incorporate the new three Tier Alert system.
- Guidance for Volunteers
For tourism businesses that have volunteer helpers, it is worth noting that the guidance to volunteers has been updated to state that clinically extremely vulnerable people should volunteer from home wherever possible. However, if they cannot do this, they can still volunteer outside their home. However, if they live or volunteer in an area where formal shielding advice has been put in place, they should not volunteer outside their home. So that’s all clear now.
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