The Government has announced that businesses such as beauty salons, swimming pools and indoor gyms can finally re-open following the COVID-19 lockdown.
Outdoor swimming pools and other outdoor facilities can re-open from this Saturday, but indoor gyms, sports facilities and swimming pools won’t re-open until 25th July. Visitors will be encouraged to shower and change at home where possible, although changing rooms will remain open.
Beauty salons, nail bars, tattooists and tanning shops will be able to re-open from Monday (13th July) but facial treatments are still not permitted.
Outdoor theatre and music performances can also resume from this weekend, but audiences must be socially distant with restricted numbers.
There is good news for sports fans too with local club cricket also able to resume from this Saturday. Limited numbers of spectators will be allowed but clubhouse bars will be able to open, subject to social distancing rules.
Gerald Vernon Jackson, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, has said:
“It is great news that gyms and leisure centres can reopen, and many people will be hugely excited about being able to safely visit them again. Being active is crucial to the fight against obesity, inactivity and poor mental health, and we know that the lockdown has increased physical inactivity and unhealthy eating habits for some families.
“Many leisure providers are in serious financial jeopardy as a result of months of lockdown and the expensive cost of maintaining closed facilities, particularly those with swimming pools. Although able to access the Job Retention Scheme they have had very little other financial support and a financial support package is needed to stabilise them.
Article continues below this advertisement “Having had to furlough staff and faced with uncertainty about when they might be able to reopen, providers have been unable to prepare. This means it may take a bit of time to reopen some facilities in line with government guidance and to ensure the right measures in place to maintaining social distancing and safe use.
“They will no doubt move as fast as they can to reopen. Residents should keep an eye on council websites and social media channels to find out when their local leisure facilities are open.”
Can’t believe how quickly we are moving forward with everything. Don’t seem to be waiting to see if there are any repercussions for easing so quickly. Would hate to see it all go wrong again in 4-5wks.
Wait until the holidaymakers arrive in droves. Dreading it.
The lockdown period gave a bit of respite to those of us who suffer from anxiety and like life to be quieter and calmer and less hectic, frantic and noisy, which ‘normal’ seems to be like.
I’m worried about there being an increase of cases breaking out because of the easing, but if there are, then I hope there will be another quieter time to look forward to, not just everything go on the same, because that will just make everything seem even worse. Seeing how better some of us felt in the quieter time, made us realise that we shouldn’t just have to go on suffering in silence because of ‘normal’ meaning stress and ill health for those of us who cannot cope with other people’s ‘normal’.
I cannot believe how many second home owners have come over here! The place is crawling with them, not only that I know for a fact a lot have claimed 10k from Boris!
Claiming there second homes were a Buisiness! Bloody joke they should be done for fraud and made to pay it back.
I know a local business which serves people who have holiday homes to let who always request their 10% trade discount when they did a roaring trade at top prices, throughout the restrictive period, from special concerned London folk fleeing the worst affected plague area in Europe since 1664! Still, one has to smile and be British when they encouraged people to visit the Isle of Purity and do their best to kill us!
So right, my friend. Lack of aeroplanes, idiots on the road, and a guide in shops to how not to be a selfish sod was almost Heaven. Still, let’s get back to normal and be worse than we were before…!
Lots of CV droplets in swimming pools, swim at your peril….
Take care out there we have done so well so far think of those NHS workers they need a break…. and we dont need to go backwards
I, for one, can’t wait to swim in the second home covidiansoup. Mmmmm, lovely. Muzzles on the buses (Reg Varny turning in his grave – you can’t get a proper leer when you look like the Lone Ranger…), soon masks in shops and, hilarious, banks…?! But lets not be undemocratic and make everybody cover his face when only a few short months ago our Prime Minister was laughing at our Moslem brothers for making women look, in his words, like ‘letterboxes’…. Well, historically it made them compliant, why not try it on everyone else?