Boris Johnson has today (22 September) announced further restrictions to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, following the COVID-19 alert level being upped to level four amid ‘rapidly’ rising cases.
From Thursday 24 September, pubs, bars, restaurants and other hospitality venues will be forced to close from 10.00pm, and people are being urged to return to working from home where possible.
The new restrictions also extend the requirement to wear face coverings to include staff in retail, all users of taxis and private hire vehicles and staff and customers in indoor hospitality, except when seated at a table to eat or drink.
The ‘rule of 6’ will now be extended to include indoor team sports, and will be amended so that from Monday a maximum of 15 people will be able to attend wedding ceremonies and receptions, though up to 30 can still attend a funeral.
Penalties for breaking the rules will increase to £200 for a first offence.
These new measures follow a briefing from Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance at the beginning of the week, showing coronavirus cases currently doubling around every seven days, and warning that if that continued there could be close to 50,000 cases a day by the middle of October.
The Prime Minister concluded by saying: “We will spare no effort in developing vaccines, treatments, new forms of mass-testing but unless we palpably make progress we should assume that the restrictions that I have announced will remain in place for perhaps six months.”
Responding to the new national restrictions for England, BCC Director General Adam Marshall said:
“Businesses understand that further restrictions are necessary to tackle the rising number of Coronavirus cases, but these measures will impact business and consumer confidence at a delicate time for the economy. Businesses, their employees and customers need to see a clear road map for the existing restrictions and those that may be introduced in the future. This must include transparent trigger points, and clarity about the support available to protect jobs and livelihoods. The government should waste no time in setting out a comprehensive support package for firms forced to close or reduce capacity through no fault of their own.”