Rules requiring social distancing and face-coverings are to be lifted in England from 19 July in the final stage of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown, health secretary Sajid Javid has announced.
Clubs are among the final businesses to be given clearance to restart operations as part of the fourth and final step in Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown.
Guests will not be required by law to wear face-masks or socially distance from the so-called “Freedom Day” next Monday, and there will be no legal requirement for venues to operate a Covid passport scheme.
But operators are being strongly advised to implement certification checks on guests, both for the safety of their customers and the good of their businesses.
Guidance will be published in the coming days, and government is promising to work with the industry over the next few weeks to assist in its implementation. But there are no plans for additional financial support to help businesses cope with the burden of checks.
All mass attendance venues where guests mix indoors without social distancing with people from outside their normal circles will be classed as “high-risk settings” and encouraged and supported to introduce certification schemes similar to those used during pilots at clubs and concerts earlier this spring.
Revellers will be able to gain access by showing evidence of double-vaccination on the NHS smartphone app, an official email or text showing that they have reported a negative lateral flow test to the NHS in the past two days or a PCR test showing that they have contracted and recovered from Covid-19 within the past six months.
Asked whether the system would enable club-goers to dodge checks by falsely reporting negative results from fast-turnaround tests, a Downing Street spokesperson said that there was little evidence of this happening in earlier pilots.
“It’s possible for people to be less than scrupulous on this,” said the spokesperson. “But the purpose of certification is to put processes in place to prompt responsible behaviour. In the pilot, we saw how effective this approach was.”
