Please find the below letter sent on behalf of David Regan, Director of Public Health for Manchester
Dear business owner or manager,
My name is David Regan and I am the Director of Public Health for Manchester. I wanted to write to you personally to provide further information relating to the Prime Minister’s recent announcement.
From today (September 24) he announced new closure times that relate to the hospitality industry. I appreciate that this is yet another change at a time when you, your staff and customers were looking forward to operating more like you used to. I know how important the hospitality industry is to the local economy and social wellbeing of our City and I acknowledge the hardship that these new restrictions will cause. However, I also know that Manchester has tremendous resilience and when we all pull together we will get through these difficult times. I would therefore like to thank you for your efforts over the past nine months and for your continued support over the next period.
The new legislation means that the following businesses and venues must be closed between 10pm and 5am:
-
businesses selling food or drink (including cafes, bars, pubs and restaurants)*
- social clubs
- casinos
- bowling alleys
- bingo halls
- amusement arcades (and other indoor leisure centres or facilities)
- funfairs
- theme parks
- adventure parks and activities
The list also includes takeaways (where you can walk in), but delivery services can continue after 10pm until 5am.
The 10pm closure means that there must be no customers on the premises by then, or in any external seating area you may have.
Some people have asked if 10pm is for last orders - it isn’t - all customers need to have left by 10pm. People have also asked if cleaning and other staff who need to be there can be on the premises after 10pm - they can. It is just customers who have to have left.
The new rules also mean that in licensed premises, food and drink must be ordered from, and served at, a table. It has now become law that hospitality venues only serve customers using table service. In other words, customers are not allowed to stand at the bar.
Additionally from Monday (28th September), pub and restaurant customers need to wear a face covering when they move around the venue, but they can take it off when they are sat down at a table to eat or drink. More information is on this link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-covid-19-what-has-changed-22-september
I would also like to remind you that it is now a legal requirement to have the QR code on display in your venue for the new national test and trace app. More information is on this link: https://covid19.nhs.uk/.
However, please also carry on with your own systems too around keeping a contact log as before. This is because the app is just one of a range of measures we need to have in place to make the system more robust.
Finally, thank you again for your time and your help - it is very much appreciated as we work to keep Covid transmissions rates under control and keep people safe and well who live in and visit our City.
Yours sincerely
David Regan
Director of Public Health, Manchester
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