Three quarters of restaurants, hotels and pubs could go out of business unless Boris Johnson scraps the two-metre rule soon, MPs have warned.
Most would find it “impossible to operate” if customers had to adhere to the social distancing limit, according to a cross-party parliamentary report.
The prime minister has said he wants to reduce the limit, and other countries have introduced one-metre rules.
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But Edward Argar, the health minister, played down the idea the two-metre rule would be changed any time soon, saying on Friday morning that ministers would be “guided by the science” on the issue.
His comments came just minutes after official statistics showed a record slump in GDP, which fell 20 per cent in April after the government introduced a nationwide lockdown in a bid to stall the coronavirus pandemic.
Many businesses fear they will be unable to re-open even when restrictions are eased, because it will be impossible to keep staff and customers two metres apart.
The report, by the all-party group for hospitality and tourism, warned that three in four businesses in the sector could be left with just 20 per cent of their usual capacity.
Such low levels of business would make their firms unsustainable.
The report warns: “It will make the operational reopening of many venues challenging. Business confidence studies submitted to the all-party group suggested up to 75 per cent of businesses surveyed were not confident that they could survive with this level of social distancing enforced.”
It added that the two-metre rule exceeded World Health Organisation guidance, which recommends people stay one metre apart to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The report adds: “For travel and tourism businesses, it is difficult to imagine two-metre social distancing being feasible in most circumstances.”
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Mr Argar acknowledged some businesses would be less viable to operate than others under the rule.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Argar said the limit would be “under constant review” as the hospitality sector re-opens.
He acknowledged businesses had “expressed concerns about how it will work with social distancing in place”, while consumers were concerned about safety.
“A lot of this does come back to social distancing, and the two-metre rule and how viable that makes it for some businesses to operate – some more so than others,” he said.
Responding to the GDP figures, he said the contraction in the economy was comparable with other western European countries.
The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has forecast the UK economy will be the worst hit by the pandemic in any developed nation.
