COVID-19 Updates – week commencing 09/08/21
More updates of developments from the government and various links to interpretation and guidance.
Go to date:
9 August 2021 …
Tourism Alliance update:
New Events Insurance Scheme
The Government has announced a new £750m Live Events Reinsurance Scheme. The scheme will see the government act as a ‘reinsurer’ – stepping in with a guarantee to make sure insurers can offer the products events companies need. The scheme will support live events across the UK that are open to the general public, such as music festivals and business events. It will cover costs incurred in the event of cancellation due to the event being legally unable to happen due to Government Covid restrictions. The scheme will be available from September 2021 and run until the end of September 2022
Further guidance on how the scheme will operate is expected shortly.
Welcome Back Fund Guidance
MHCGL has published the third version of the guidance and Q&A that accompanies the Welcome Back Fund. To recap, this is a £56m fund distributed to local authorities which can be used to:
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- Boost the look and feel of their high streets by investing in street planting, parks, green spaces, and seating areas to make high streets welcoming.
- Run publicity campaigns and prepare to hold events that will boost footfall and encourage people back into the high streets and thereby supporting local businesses.
- Install and refresh signage and communications on how people can stay safe and help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
- Improve green spaces on high streets and town centres by planting flowers or removing graffiti.
Of particular note is that MHCLG expects local authorities to engage with stakeholders including local businesses, BIDs and DMOs when putting together plans for the expenditure of this funding.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/welcome-back-fund
Social Impacts of Coronavirus
This week’s wave of the ONS’s ongoing research on the social impact of coronavirus has been published. The key findings include:
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- The percentage of people that are wearing masks and who believe that measures such as mask wearing and social distancing are important remains over 90%
- The proportion of adults that reported self-isolating in the last seven days fell to 4% from 6% last week, suggesting that the pingdemic is easing
- 62% of adults said they met up indoors with someone not in their household in the past seven days, which is up significantly from 55% last week and suggests that people are becoming more confident on meeting others in indoor locations
- This growing confidence is reflected in the percentage of people think that it will take at least a year for things to return to normal falling from 335 to 28% this week.
VisitBritain Sentiment Tracker
Here is a copy of the latest wave of VisitBritian’s Consumer Sentiment Tracker. The report contains a lot of detailed information on perceptions of the current and future travel environment, the level of risk associated with travel, travel intentions and barriers to travelling.
Updated Quarantine Rules for Children
The rules related to children entering the country have been updated. They now read:
Children resident in the UK, British Overseas Territories, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, USA or the specific European countries (including France from 8th August)
Children of all ages who are resident in these countries or territories do not have to quarantine.
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- If they are aged 4 and under they do not have to take any COVID-19 travel tests.
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- If they are 5 to 10, they:
- do not have to take a pre-departure test
- must take a day 2 test on or before day 2 – arrival day is day 0
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- If they are 11 to 17, they must take a:
- COVID-19 pre-departure test before travelling to England
- day 2 test on or before day 2 in England – arrival day is day 0
Children not resident in the UK, British Overseas Territories, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, USA or the specific European countries
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- If they are aged 4 or under they do not have to take travel tests.
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- If they are 5 to 17, they must:
- take a COVID-19 pre-departure test before travelling to England
- take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 in England – arrival day is day 0
- take a COVID-19 test on or after day 8 in England – arrival day is day 0
- quarantine at home or in the place they’re staying for 10 days, or for the duration of their stay if it’s less than 10 days
- If they are 5 to 17, they must:
Webinar Invite: Horizon Europe Research Funding For Creative And Cultural Sectors
The Economic & Social Research Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and DCMS are holding a online seminar on Horizon Europe Research Funding. Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation and is open to applications from cultural organisations, research institutions and freelancers.
The webinar is at 1-3pm on 10 August 2021 and will provide attendees with an introduction to the funding opportunities that Horizon Europe offers to the Arts, Heritage and Creative Industries sectors with the aim of helping organisations understanding the potential opportunities for engaging with Horizon Europe.
You can book to attend this event on the following link
https://ukri.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1C2GVtFkSLS158qxkEO5zA
R Number and Growth Rate
Some good news to end the week on. The R Number and Growth Rate this week are, respectively, 0.8 to 1.1 and -3% to +1%. This is a decrease from last week’s figures of 1.1 to 1.4 and +2% to +5% and are the slowest figures since the second week of May when the UK was still in Step 2 and bodes well for the main summer period.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-r-value-and-growth-rate
12 August 2021 …
Northern Ireland Tourism Alliance
The NI Executive met today and discussed a number of areas with regard to easing of Covid-19 restrictions. The good news is that business conferences and exhibitions are now able to restart with conference facilities able to open. After 18months closed, this is a huge relief both for planned events and in securing future events. This change comes into effect at 01.00am on Monday 16th August. We are continuing to make the case for financial support for the events sector supply chain.
The disappointing news is the NI Executive have decided to maintain the current regulations on International travel and are not prepared to address the disparity of regulations across the island of Ireland. The Minister for the Economy supported change to address this disparity but we understand that the Executive have accepted a recommendation that alignment with the England process continue until their next review cycle in early October and at that point the exit path for NI from these restriction would be considered. We will continue to make the case for alignment both locally and nationally as we are seeing widespread cancellation, particularly of tour operator business, which is impacting on hotels, attractions, experiences and then the ongoing impact on hospitality and retail.
Other easements that come into effect on 16th August are (the full Executive statement available at Statement on Executive decisions – 12 August 2021 | The Executive Office (executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk)):
· Self-Isolation – people who are fully vaccinated will no longer need to self- isolate for 10 days if someone they have been in close contact with tests positive for COVID-19. Instead, they should get a PCR test on day two and day eight of the 10 day period. People who are not fully vaccinated will still need to self-isolate for the 10 days. This policy change applies to close contacts only. Anyone who has symptoms, whether vaccinated or not, should immediately book a PCR test. Anyone who has had a positive PCR test should self-isolate for 10 days. Please note this does not apply to Health care workers.
o Young people aged 5 to 17 who are not fully vaccinated and are identified as a close contact should self-isolate and book a PCR test.
· Social Distancing on public transport – The requirement to maintain social distancing on public transport at all times will be lifted, to allow for a return to higher capacity on our transport links.
· Hospitality – The limit of numbers permitted at tables will be removed. This will also apply to post marriage celebrations.
· Domestic Settings Outdoors – The restriction on the number of people who can gather outdoors at a domestic setting will be removed, including the ban on outdoor house parties.
· Bubbles/linked households – The provision for bubbles or linked households will be removed as it is no longer required.
· FE Colleges, Universities and NSCs (new academic year)- there will be a full return to face-to-face on-site delivery including the removal of social distancing restrictions in classrooms.
· Schools return – The requirement for school bubbles will be removed for the beginning of the school year with mitigating measures remaining in place. The requirement to wear a face covering will remain in place for the first six weeks of the new term and remain under review. However, for subjects where social distancing is possible, such as drama in a large hall, face coverings are no longer required. Further guidance will be issued to schools by the Department of Education.
Other Updates
· Tourism Ireland EAGS GB Campaign – The campaign will go live on TV on September 1st and run through to November/December on a variety of AV and Digital channels. Media activity is ongoing and there has been a really positive response from journalists who have been on media trips to NI this summer. Campaigns are planned with air and sea carriers. The Siobhan McSweeney’s ‘Exploring Northern Ireland’ is starting tomorrow on C4 – it’s had fantastic coverage in GB already, including an interview with Siobhan on C4 News. Exploring Northern Ireland: Siobhan McSweeney – All 4 (channel4.com)
· Clarification on quarantine and testing for people who have been in amber list countries – There has been a clarification of the ‘fully vaccinated’ rules. For Europe and USA, if you had a 2-dose vaccine both doses must be of the same approved vaccine type. For the UK you can have different types of an approved vaccine for each dose.
· The new ‘Help to Grow’ Digital scheme is scheduled to go live on 1 September 2021. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are to provide a session in relation to this scheme on Thursday, 26th August 2021 at 1.30pm to 3.00pm which is being co-ordinated here by the Department for the Economy. A presentation is attached giving an overview of the new scheme and a link to the campaign info here : Help to Grow – Take your business to the next level (campaign.gov.uk). If you/a colleague would like to attend this session please email roisin.mckee@people1st.co.uk with name/contact details by Friday, 13th August 2021 an invite will be sent out to you directly once details have been confirmed.
· Costs of PCR tests – The CMA has published a brief response to the letter from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the Right Honourable Sajid Javid MP raising issues in connection to PCR travel tests. They have confirmed that they will look into the concerns raised such as pricing and quality of service and respond within the next month.
