On Friday 24^th July it became law that people (shoppers, etc) must wear face coverings that cover the nose and mouth – for example, a fabric covering, scarf or bandanna – in a lot more indoor places.

This is as well as washing our hands and being careful to social distance.

1. Where Do We Have to Wear a Face Covering?

Face Coverings must now be worn in:

1. shops,
2. supermarkets,
3. shopping centres,
4. when buying food and drink to take away from cafes and shops, and
5. public transport hubs e.g. indoor train stations and terminals, airports, sea and river ports, and indoor bus and coach stations or terminals.

We must also keep on wearing face coverings in hospitals and when we are travelling on public transport: trains, buses and coaches.

2. Where Don’t We Have to Wear a Face Covering?

You won’t have to wear a face covering in the following venues that have measures in place to protect staff and the public from COVID-19. These include:

1. hairdressers and close-contact services,
2. eat-in restaurants, cafes and pubs (but you will in cafes or take-away restaurants when you aren’t going to eating there),
3. entertainment venues, including cinemas, concert halls and theatres,
4. visitor attractions (such as heritage sites, art galleries or museums),
5. gyms and leisure centres,
6. dentists or opticians (but you do need to wear them in hospitals).

3. Who Doesn’t Have to Wear a Face Covering?

The new law doesn’t apply to children under the age of 11 or anyone who can prove their health or impairment[s] means they cannot wear a face covering. This includes people:

1. with impairments or health conditions that make it really difficult to breathe, or other conditions seriously affecting heart or lungs,
2. who can’t put on a face covering due to conditions affecting their ability to use their hands/arms (dexterity),
3. with a condition or impairment that means wearing or removing a face covering will cause severe distress,
4. with cognitive impairments, including learning difficulties and dementia, if they would not understand or remember the need to wear a face covering,
5. with vision impairments that include a restricted field of vision, that means they can only see at the lower edge of the normal field of view,
6. with any other impairments which would make it difficult to put on or take off a face covering safely, accurately, consistently or without pain,
7. travelling with, or being a support worker or carer to, someone who relies on lip reading to communicate.

But, people are going to get quite confused because the new law also doesn’t apply to shop or supermarket staff. The government do strongly recommend that employers think seriously about making their staff wear face coverings but the law doesn’t say they must.

Coronavirus Update 9^th July 2020

Are you starting to find the relentless number of updates and changes from government a bit mind-numbing?  We are!

We hope that you find our ‘round-up’ of developments a better way to keep up-to-date with what’s going on.  If not, please let us know what you would rather we did instead, by emailing bristoldef@gmail.com

1. Tourist Centre opens

Bristol’s Tourist Information Centre has reopened in its new home – the Galleries in Broadmead, opposite Peacocks & Edinburgh Woollen Mills.  The centre is for visitors and locals alike, and offers everything from help with bus timetables to souvenirs and gifts. 

2. Chancellor’s new economic measures to support the UK’s economic recovery and reduce levels of unemployment in the coming months

This includes: 

1. Cutting VAT from the current rate of 20% to 5% for the next six months, on food, accommodation and attractions.  The cut lasts from Wednesday 8 July until 12 January 2021.

2.  A new jobs retention bonus: businesses will be paid £1,000 to retain furloughed staff.  Sunak stated that this would cost the Treasury more than £9bn if every job furloughed is protected.

3. Majority of children no longer need to shield: 

The government has announced that the majority of children currently considered extremely clinical vulnerable to coronavirus will be able to be removed from the shielded patient list [link].  

However, the child’s GP or consultant will discuss the matter with the child and their family or carer before any decision is made about whether the child needs to continue shielding, or not. 

The latest shielding guidance was updated on 7 July [link]

4. More professional sports and culture start up again

The Culture Secretary has announced agreements to allow selected sporting events and production on film and television to get underway safely [link]. 

These agreements mean that international cricket, Champions League and Europa League football, the PGA British Masters Championship and the World Snooker Championships can all take place.  Other major darts, horse racing and other sporting events are also expected to follow. 

Don’t expect to buy any tickets to watch them though – only those people essential to staging these events, including the sports stars, event officials, coaches, medics, mechanics and incoming members of the media will be able to take part – so, still no live audiences allowed!

Also, indoor gyms, nail bars and swimming pools are still closed, mass gatherings are still prohibited, and social distancing is still essential.

5. VAT on PPE supplies

PPE will stay free of VAT until the end of October [link].  The decision comes after a temporary zero-rate of VAT was applied to PPE sales for an initial three months from 1^st May 2020 to 31^st July 2020.

6. Other VAT changes

VAT on food, accommodation and attractions will be cut from the current rate of 20% to 5% for the next six months.  The cut lasts from Wednesday 8^th July until 12^th January 2021.

The government has done this help prevent some hospitality businesses (those providing cafes, restaurants, hotels and other tourism services, etc) from having to close down.