The Government has ordered that all restaurants, pubs, cafes and bars across the Isle of Wight close tonight (Friday) until further notice.
Such establishments are being told to close as soon as they reasonably can, however, take-out services are permitted to stay open.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also said that gyms, clubs, leisure centres, theatres and cinemas should also close their doors. Many on the Island already have.
If needed, the government will enforce these measures by law.
The following businesses and venues have been asked to close:
- Food and drink venues for consumption on-site, such as restaurants and cafes.
- Drinking establishments, including pubs, bars, nightclubs.
- Entertainment venues, including cinemas, theatres, concert halls and bingo halls.
- Museums and galleries.
- Spas, wellness centres and massage parlours.
- Casinos and betting shops.
- All indoor leisure and sports facilities, including gyms.
Those thinking of heading out tonight are being asked not to, to protect the NHS and save lives.
The government has also urged the public to take further steps to protect themselves and the wider population from the coronavirus, including:
- Everyone to stay at home unless they need to get essential supplies such as food and medicines.
- All those able to work from home to do so, unless their work is essential.
- Only traveling if absolutely necessary - while public transport won’t stop, this should only be used for essential travel – for example by key workers to travel to and from work.
The Prime Minister has said the government will review the situation each month to see if they can relax the measures imposed, which could indicate that establishments will be closed for several weeks to come.
Communities Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP has said:
“We will do whatever it takes to protect people across this country as we tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
“While people have responded well to calls for social distancing and self-isolation, we must go further if we are to be able to stop the spread of the virus and protect the most vulnerable people in our society, and our NHS.
“That is why we are now telling entertainment and hospitality premises to close temporarily, and people to only travel if absolutely essential, to help protect each other from the further spread of the virus.
“We stand behind businesses and their employees and are offering an unprecedented range of support as we tackle this huge challenge together”.
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Just order a Dominos and down a few pints of lager whilst watching the telly, its what I plan on doing
As long as they are open. But yes, good advice. Be cheaper too!
Really? At Dominos prices!!
Sorry I’m not poor
I’m with you on that. This is the most expensive country to buy dominos.
Other countries consider it a cheap takeaway as its half the price than it is here. Its criminal the prices they charge for their pizzas.
Enjoy, we all need a little time out. We will all deal with this in our own way.
just do the right thing for your own sanity and look out for others that are desperate, check on your elderly neighbor’s.
I work in retail and its shocking that being at work is the priority atm, ppl r not thinking about retail workers, seems to be different from pubs and restaurants, even tho it is still a public gathering
Hopefully you’ll be offered this holiday 80% pay. Do you think your shop needs to be open?
yes its lidl
yeah i work in retail too and feel really scared even more customers than normal gov should be getting police to monitor how many people come in store and their temp like they abroad
Advice only Go out if you have to so order a take out and put a delivery driver at risk.just like the shops we really do live in the selfish generation.
Alright then mate, I ain’t tipping you 25% anytime soon
If you see an old person coming your way, cross the road or stand back. For you it may not be a big deal but by passing it on to them you ARE killing them. Please go look at what is happening in Italy. This is going to be bad if we are not careful and the island can no coupe with 1000’s of sick and dying. We’re in a good place, lets keep it like that.
It isn’t just old people you should maintain a distance from, it’s anyone….hence closing establishments that involve social contact.
Agreed, my thought is that Ir’s easier for the more able to cross the road. 🙂
Stop the Ferries carrying passengers to our Isla nd. Let keep it to only a couple of cases. Use Ferries only for Frieght and any one returning to there island homes from the mainland should be tested before being let on Board. This will be to late if its not already spread from visitors. Bob steely should act now for our future of the island and not profit of the ferry companies. If this gets out of control over here we could be worse than Italy. Who will we blame then. Once it gets out of control we will not cope at all on this small island.
you do realise that key workers, such as healthcare professionals live on the island and work in Portsmouth, along with police, fire personnel etc.
a number of supermarket staff commute as well
They need to get to work.
Essential travel only my husband works on mainland but that’s all it needs to be freight and essential travel. It’s easy to do
i agree
Totally agree. I’ve emailed him regarding this everyone should do the same. We need to act now while we still can with Easter here soon. Why will they come over nothing is open but like is happening in places like Skegness there are still some selfish idiots out there. Stop it now
….and STILL the organizers of the IOW Festival are in denial! Do they really think that audiences AND performers will still want to attend???
Getting lots of nice Bank interest on all the payments they have received. John griddings your disgusting
It’s out of their hands anyway so nothing to worry about there.
I love going to the festival, but for those 3 days in June it must be the dirtiest, unsanitary place in the country! Surely it can’t go ahead
About time this government done the same as the rest of Europe sooner lockdown gets ordered the better
Absolutely agree Old Bean. California has 40 million head count and Donald Trump has put them all in lock down…. Our government need to do the same ASAP. IOW needs to be into lockdown before this virus gets a hold here. I would urge as many residents as possible to email Bob Sealy with our concerns regarding stopping the ferries bringing mainlanders here. Just supplies, food, medicines, royal mail post etc to continue
Well done Boris and the Tory party, never thought I’d say it.
Helping out the country when we need it, let’s do our bit and pay that trust back in return by respecting the vulnerable our neighbours and all those in key roll jobs and shop workers.
Do your bit as responsible parents and don’t let your teenagers go out there and cause havoc. We all have to pull together.
Agree Caulkhead, these kids cannot be allowed out to hang around the streets all day and night. Hope their parent/parents explain this to them?
What if they wear a hazmat suit?
Just stick the adidas logo on it and they’ll be wearing them
West Wight social club still open dozen of fools sat right next to each other at the bar !
Take licence away
Let them drink the end of the world is nigh
If everyone on the island follows the advice from the government we have the potential to keep the island the safest place in the UK 🙂 If we don’t follow the advice, because we have a high % of older & vulnerable people, it will be very, very different (in a bad way) 🙁
STAY IN – STAY SAFE
All rents, mortgages, bank loans, credit cards, should be frozen for at least twelve months, if all is well after that time then carry on without penalties.
This is about survival, not profit, we can survive long after this.
Its all well and good saying that Clare, but there is always someone on the other side of the debt. They will suffer – it is all connected. Someone pays rent, to someone, who uses it to pay a mortgage, to a company that needs to pay its employees wages.
Whilst fairly simplistic example, you get my point.
Money acts as the blood of the economy – without it continually circulating, the economy dies. This is why the govt are looking into paying wages and providing cash to businesses – this is life support for the economy and once the virus impact is over and the economy starts to show an improvement in its health, the life support cash will be removed by the government.
The govt will then have the job of trying to remove all the newly created cash from the system, through various mechanisms. This is to avoid the rampant inflation that comes with printing up all this cash and dumping it in the system and before your loaf of bread costs £5 when wages didn’t go up at the same time.
applying the financial medication, monitoring it and then removing it, is just as difficult and can crush the economy later on, if it isn’t done correctly.
What’s the matter Ventnor missing your pint?? Boo! Hoo! Big baby!!
And yet the wheatsheaf was doing good business and my friend was passing people dressed up for a night out and heading into town on his way home…
Bloody idiots!!!
These people are obviously not blessed in the ‘brain’ department, they were at the back of the queue when intelligence was given out! They won’t be going out again anytime soon, everything has to shut down.
Watch this and tell me it’s a load off bull. 39 more have died today. https://youtu.be/iFLSG-7K3Tc
Listen to this lady, this is real. 39 more died today. Stop playing roulette with the lives of others. https://youtu.be/iFLSG-7K3Tc
Close the island to all visitor’s for three months
I’m all up for preserving our society, it’s a must. However amongst all this chaos the government will ease peoples minds more, if they’re more on the pulse with peoples financial worries as well. I’m sure we’d all breathe easier, households and especially business folk if they announced a respite on bills like council tax and business rates as well as the mortgages they’ve recently covered. I count the days till it gets mentioned.
Done. This government has amazed many with their plans to help people financially. Let’s hope people get the help they need if they fall into the category where their employers have had to shut. Not too sure why people (the able bodied ones who could if they wanted to, get a job) have had their universal credit benefit increased? Argh I know, they don’t want a job, why would they when they can do nothing but still get given money….get these people into the supermarkets to fill the shelves, give something back to this country and the community they live in rather than taking all their life.
My thoughts exactly why is their money going up? Nothing changes for them what are they losing out on?
They don’t go out to work anyway! Oh wait .. they won’t be able to go to the pub! Shame!
Not just on the island the whole country
I support you totally and I support you 100 percent but so many people at the pub say until you are saying pubs are enforcing this they will still go. I know you have a difficult job but you need to enforce this.. Until then people will still go. Once they hear you are enforcing it they have no choice.
If you know of any establishments that are still serving Mrs J, call 101 and report them to the police. You don’t have to give your name if you wish to remain anonymous. There may well be some places on the island thinking they can remain open WRONG !
Police should be going in pubs etc that r still open and shut them down now
Man in the moon was open when I passed at 21.10 pm tonight
The Railway Inn, in Ryde, was open and busy. I take dog for walk late at night so less lightly to pass someone.
All the ‘old soaks’ from Ryde, cannot go without booze! Why does that not surprise me. Well they shouldn’t be open anymore now. Stupid and selfish…
Phone 101 and report any boozers that are still serving
Now the Government has implemented ‘essential travel’ only, we should have no qualms in saying loud and clear – ‘no ‘tourist’ or ‘recreational’ travel to and from the island whatsoever until further notice (and I would include our own families in that)
STAY IN – STAY SAFE
I truly believe the island is in a unique position to keep most people safe
Yer u might b right if idiots stop going to pubs and idiot landlords do as they have been ordered to do dumb f—s
Boy am I glad there’s no fixed link…
Can be closed / policed just as well as ferries.
Quite, stop visitors from the mainland using the ferries. Please take note Mr Bob Seely! I do understand that people with important jobs, nurses, fire men, retail workers etc. have to travel by ferry. Issue these good people with a pass to allow them on the ferry and everybody else should not be allowed to use the ferry. I t is not selfish but common sense to keep our island safe and not spread the virus. There are a lot of elderly people living here which come under the “Risk Group” and they need protecting.
Well said that’s exactly what should be done
An incentive for everyone to practice social distancing – I was reading on the internet that some otherwise-healthy people who have had Covid-19 with ‘mild’ symptoms have ‘fully recovered’ but have been left with some measurable lung damage, possibly long term, not known as yet as it’s still a new illness. Would hate to think that loads of youngsters are doing their usual social stuff with a false sense of security. Not wanting to be ‘scaremongering’ here, it’s better to be forewarned I think. Don’t take my word, google it, as we say nowadays.
Some people who recover from serious cases of the coronavirus will be left with lung damage that may take as many as 15 years to heal, according to intensive-care experts in the UK.
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-survivors-lung-damage-ards-fcim-intensive-care-research-2020-3?r=US&IR=T
We need to do the same as France. Can’t go out unless you have documents to say why. Far too many people, young and old, out and about. I live near a main road and a bus stop. So many going about life as if nothing is happening. They may not suffer bad with it but it will kill their parents / grand parents. A woman in her 30’s died in Spain last few days. No pre existing condition. Had given birth just a few days before. If your daughter is pregnant, make sure she says at home and you away from her. She and the baby has a real chance of dying.
Just been told by a friend (who has to work) that B&Q is full of people. I guess a potted plant is more important than family!
Stocking up ready for lockdown presumably!
I really think some people are not getting the messsge! Do these people not realise the consequences this virus could have here on the island if these ‘thick’ people continue to ignore good, sound government advice? The only way these dumbasses will be stopped is when we are all ordered into a lockdown situation and even then there will be some on this island who will think it doesn’t apply to them. WISE UP PEOPLE AND LISTEN FOR GOD SAKE, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU
Just been to Sandown for some provisions – there was a café open on the seafront with tables & chairs set out so not just ‘takeaway’ (which the Government currently allows)…just saying…
Now, I have used this café many times, it’s one of my absolute favourites, but now’s the time we all have to play by the rules – to save lives
May as well stay open!
What good will it do when the DFT,s are coming here to there holiday homes !! Bringing Covid 19 with them!!
Should be a ban on people coming to the island.
Be interesting to see how many go out tonight!!
Shouldn’t be anywhere to go that’s open should there?
All pubs etc closed in ventnor never thought I would see that!
gov ordered all shops to close but hubby went into town 2 get medicine and shoe zone in Shanklin still open
I think you will find that shops were not told to close.
Pubs cafes restaurants not shops. Doesn’t apply to them yet but probably only a matter of time
I’ve just looked at the I.O.W. official tourism website. It has a web page devoted entirely to ‘Coronavirus – Covid 19 advice’ and on the same page it states in bold type:
‘Holiday visitors and locals continue to enjoy our Island’s beautiful scenery and warm hospitality, and we look forward to welcoming you whenever you choose to visit’
I don’t usually swear, but WTF is that all about???
The Government has advised everyone to restrict their travel to ‘essential’ only and the official I.O.W. tourism website is actively encouraging people to travel here in the middle of a global pandemic that has already killed over 12,000 people.
Island Echo – please bring this to the attention of the island MP.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-51975411
Agree 100% Joe, what the hell is going on here?When it’s too late and our number of cases have risen dramatically then they will start to panic. Beggars belief really doesn’t it.
Why were hotels not ordered to close?
Boris said stay at home especially the elderly.
So why are there so many elderly on the streets.
Very irresponsible.
So why is the Big kahuna and the cafe on Puckpool seafront still serving with chairs outside. Totally irresponsible just for a profit.
Very responsible behaviour for a council member, Mr Whittle. Tut tut.
I hope pubs are closed
ALL GOLF COURSES SHOULD SHUT NOW
I WALKED DOG YESTERDAY ON MY OWN I MIGHT ADD AND SAW BETWEEN 50 TO 60 GOLFERS I WOULD SAY , THEY LOOKED CLOSER THAN 2 METRES AND CROWDED…..CLOSE THEM NOW, PUBS ARE CLOSED AND GOLF COURSES ARE RIFE….CLOSE CLOSE NOW B4 ITS TOO LATE ALL UNESSENTIAL GATHERINGS
Latest news headlines:
‘People who have ignored government advice aimed at tackling the coronavirus pandemic are “very selfish”, says the health secretary.
Matt Hancock said the government was willing to take “more action” if needed to stop the virus from spreading.
Over the weekend, photos emerged showing crowds of people visiting open spaces across many parts of the UK’.
I say – Shut down the island apart from essential travel and switch off the official I.O.W. tourism website.
Unfortunately most people will not always do what we’re asked to do for the greater good and so please let’s not whinge too much when we are forced by law to follow the rules.
STAY IN – STAY SAFE (and help to keep old & vulnerable people safe)