COVID-19 Updates – week commencing 21/12/20
More updates of developments from the government and various links to interpretation and guidance.
Go to date:
21 December 2020 …
Tourism Alliance update:
Northern Ireland Restrictions
Following on from the post-Xmas restrictions announced in Wales, Northern Ireland has announced that, Between 20:00 and 06:00 from 26 December until 2 January:
- All businesses, including essential shops, must close
- No indoor or outdoor gatherings of any kind will be permitted, including at sporting venues
- Outdoor exercise will be permitted only with members of your own household.
- No household mixing will be permitted in private gardens or indoors in any setting, except for emergencies or the provision of health or care services
- No sporting events will be permitted at all – even at elite level
Other rules during this period include:
- Closure of hospitality and non-essential retail
- Click-and-collect retail will not be permitted, and homeware will not be categorised as essential retail
- Off sales (including from bars) will be permitted from 08:00 on Monday to Saturday, and from 10:00 on Sunday, until 20:00 on any day
- Hospitality businesses will only be allowed to offer takeaway and delivery food
- Closure of close-contact businesses
- Places of worship can remain open under strict conditions
Some further changes to the rules for the devolved destinations are:
Scotland
- Scotland has announced that there will be a ban on cross border travel to and from Scotland over the Xmas period
- All of the Scottish mainland will move to level four restrictions from 26 December which stops households mixing, shuts pubs and restaurants and closes non-essential retail. This will last for at least 3 weeks.
- Scotland will also reduce the five day Christmas bubble period to Christmas Day
Wales
- The lockdown previously announced for Wales is being brought forward to midnight tonight
- Again, the Xmas bubble period has been reduced to Christmas Day.
Northern Ireland
- No additional restrictions have been announced at the moment
New Tier 4 in England
As you will be aware, the Prime Minister has announced a new Tier 4 for London and areas of the South East from Midnight 19 December 2020
Some of the main points of the announcement are:
- Tier Four
- Tier four restrictions will apply in all tier three areas in the South East, covering Kent, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey (excluding Waverley), Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Rother and Hastings.
- It will also apply in London (all 32 boroughs and the City of London) and the East of England (Bedford, Central Bedford, Milton Keynes, Luton, Peterborough, Hertfordshire, Essex (excluding Colchester, Uttlesford and Tendring).
- All non-essential retail will have to close, along with hairdressers, nail bars, indoor gyms and leisure facilities.
- A stay-at-home order will be issued to residents in Tier 4, with those travelling to work or for education exempt. That means people should not enter or leave tier 4 areas, and tier 4 residents must not stay overnight away from home.
- People in Tier 4 cannot mix indoors with anyone not from their household and only one person in an open public space.
- Communal worship can continue to take place in tier 4 areas.
- The restrictions will last for two weeks, with the first review due on 30 December.
- Xmas Rules for Areas Outside Tier 4
- The Xmas bubble will only apply to Xmas day rather than the previous 23rd to 27th December period
- A Xmas bubble cannot include anyone from a Tier 4 area
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers) (England) Regulations 2020 which were laid on Saturday night.
These amendments make it illegal for someone in Tier 4 to leave the place that they are living without reasonable excuse
Restrictions on leaving home
1.—(1) No person who lives in the Tier 4 area may leave or be outside of the place where they are living without reasonable excuse.
The list of exemptions to this include
- To buy certain goods (eg food and medicine) and services (banking)
- Exercise
- Worship
- Matters related to house sale or residential rentals
- Were required for work
- Elite Athletes
- Medical treatment
- Support/respite/ death bed visit
- Funerals and weddings
- Exception 11: returning home
- (16) Exception 11 is that it is reasonably necessary for P to be outside P’s home to enable P to return home from any place where P was on holiday immediately before this Schedule came into force.
Gatherings
The amendments make it illegal for a person to organise of be involved in a gathering of people with a number of exemptions – the most relevant being:
- Education
- Training that is required for qualifications
- Work-related meetings
- Weddings (max 6 people)
Food and Drink
The restrictions on food and beverage businesses are basically the same as Tier 3 – only delivery or takeaway except for room service. There are exemptions for ports/airports/motorway service areas and two channel tunnel rail areas.
Businesses can:
- sell food or drink for consumption off the premises between the hours of 05:00 and 23:00
- sell food or drink for consumption off the premises between the hours of 23:00 and 05:00 by delivery or collection in response to internet or phone orders or by drive through
There is also an exemption for food and drink services on transport services
Accommodation
The restrictions for accommodation businesses in Tier 4 are also basically the same as Tier 3 in that all accommodation has to close but is able to provide accommodation to a person who:
- needs the accommodation for work
- is unable to return to their main residence
- uses that accommodation as their main residence
- needs accommodation for the purposes of a house move
- needs accommodation to attend a funeral or following a bereavement of a close family member or friend
- needs accommodation to attend a commemorative event to celebrate the life of a person who has died
- needs accommodation to attend a medical appointment, or to receive treatment
- is a carer of a vulnerable person or a person who has a disability and needs respite
- is isolating themselves from others as required by law
- is an elite athlete or the coach of an elite athlete and needs accommodation for the purposes of training or competition or, where an elite athlete is a child, their parent
- needs accommodation to visit a person who is dying
- is homeless or seeking refuge
Importantly, accommodation businesses are allowed to host people who were staying in that accommodation immediately before the time when the area in which the accommodation is located became part of the Tier 4 area,
Attractions
All indoor and outdoor attractions are required to close including safari parks. The exemptions being
- outdoor areas at visitor attractions such as:
-
- sculpture parks
- landmarks, including observation wheels or viewing platforms
- botanical or other gardens, biomes or greenhouses
- stately or historic homes, castles or other heritage sites;
-
Conference and Events
Conference centres and exhibition halls are required to close so far as they are used to host conferences, exhibitions, trade shows, private dining events or banquets, other than conferences, trade shows or events which are attended only by employees of the person who owns or is responsible for running the conference centre or exhibition hall;
CPT update:
TRAVEL GUIDANCE TIER 4
The guidance for Tier 4 is worded very strongly
In Tier 4 people must not leave or be outside of their home or garden except where you have a ‘reasonable excuse’
The guidance states that “You MUST NOT leave a Tier 4 area, other than for legally permitted reasons”
These legally permitted reasons are the same as those in place for the second national lockdown
TRAVEL GUIDANCE TIER 3
The guidance for Tier 3 is worded differently
The guidance says that “You SHOULD avoid travelling outside your tier 3 area including overnight stays other than for essential reasons”
There has been an addition to the guidance which now includes the advice to stay local and avoid travelling outside your local area where possible
TRAVEL GUIDANCE TIER 2
There are no travel restrictions for Tier 2, and no guidance saying that you must not, or should not travel outside of your Tier 2 area
You can travel within Tier 2 areas to hotels and other guest accommodation. However you should avoid travel to or overnight stays in Tier 3 areas
There has been an addition to the guidance which now includes the advice to stay local and avoid travelling outside your local area where possible
This is advice only, and does not include the words that you must or should only travel in your local area
COACH TOURS OVER CHRISTMAS
We believe that based on the guidance a Coach Tour from a Tier 1 or 2 area, going to a Tier 1 or 2 area will still be allowed
The advice to stay local should be taken into account, and operators are advised to make an assessment and a considered judgement of the risks involved especially the local infection levels in the area the tour originates, and the destination
