Coronavirus: Advice on offer for Shropshire’s clubs and pubs
Shropshire Council is offering advice and support to clubs and pubs to assist the county’s nighttime economy to operate as safely as it can, following the lifting of the majority of mandatory coronavirus restrictions on 19 July 2021. The council wants to ensure the public can enjoy Shropshire’s nighttime economy safely.
To do this, the council is offering specific advice to those hospitality venues that have customers gathering in larger crowds: recognised nightclubs or public bars where the majority of customers are indoors and who stand whilst drinking (vertical drinking venues). Officers will also be providing reassurance and advisory visits to help these types of venues recover from the impact of the pandemic.
The advice will include what action to take if a person who has visited the venue tests positive for COVID-19, how to make the business more COVID-19-secure, and ways to encourage customers to get double vaccinated.
The Government has already proposed that people attending nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather in England will need to be double vaccinated from the end of September 2021. The council wants to ensure that owners of venues across the county that are likely to be impacted by this requirement have taken reasonable steps in readiness for these changes, including appropriate engagement with their customers.
Rachel Robinson, Shropshire Council’s director of public health, said:-
“Letters and emails will be going out to invite key venues to get involved, and I urge owners of these venues to respond positively. We’re hoping that owners and managers of venues across the county will take advantage of a face-to-face meeting with our community support and health protection team officers. During this meeting, owners will be able to explore ideas to how to safely operate their venue, together with how to remain COVID-19-secure and promote vaccine uptake.
“We recognise that the proposed introduction of a ‘COVID-19 passport’ will bring challenges for our nighttime economy venues, and we want to support owners to do it in a way that brings benefits to the venue and their customers.”
For any owner of a nighttime economy venue that does not receive a direct communication from the council, but who considers their venue is either a nightclub or a vertical drinking establishment and would benefit from the advice on offer, they should contact the council via email shropshirepublichealth@shropshire.gov.uk
Everyone over the age of 18 is now eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine. For details of where to get a jab without needed an appointment, click here.
