Yesterday, on the 22nd February here in the UK, Prime Minister – Boris Johnson, announced yet another brand new set of government social distancing guidelines. The new 4-step plan suggests a future ‘Roadmap’ out of lockdown for England as we head into summer, with the hopes of even potentially lifting all legal requirements by 21st June if strict conditions are met.
The plan has supposedly been designed to ease us slowly out of lockdown over the next four months, but all 4 steps must be completed and show signs of working in order to move forward out of lockdown completely. The first major step is to re-open all schools and colleges as of the 8th March, followed then by the re-opening of certain retail, leisure and outdoor hospitality industries on April 12th.
Unfortunately however, it’s not great news for the bingo hall scene once again, as indoor entertainment venues won’t be able to open until May 17th. This will be another major blow to bingo clubs all over England now, as some venues will have been closed for almost a year by then – on and off.
There is a small light at the end of the tunnel now however, as these new plans at least offer some idea of when things can get back up and running. It will hopefully give businesses the boost they need now to move forward after a pretty brutal year, and it offers us a little bit of positivity as we head into the spring and summer months.
Lockdown Easing – Key Dates
Boris Johnson’s new 4-stage exit plan hopes to ease us out of lockdown safely by the end of June here in the UK.
A new focus will then be put on ‘personal responsibility’ as opposed to social distancing laws moving forward, with a few key things such as wearing masks in winter potentially sticking around for good.
The new 4 phase ‘Roadmap’ steps are as follows:
Step 1 – 8th March
- Schools open. Outdoor after school sports allowed.
- 2 people allowed to sit together outdoors.
- Care home residents allowed 1 regular visitor.
Step 1 Continued – 29th March
- 6 people or 2 households allowed to meet outdoors.
- Outdoor sports facilities open. Organised sport allowed.
- Travel outside local area.
Step 2 – 12th April
- Non-essential retail and personal care open.
- Hospitality outdoors open.
- Indoor leisure eg gyms and swimming pools open.
- Self-contained holiday accommodation open.
Step 3 – 17th May
- Bingo halls, cinemas and indoor venues open.
- Outdoors most social contact rules lifted.
- 6 people or 2 households can meet indoors.
- Indoor hospitality and hotels open.
Step 4 – 21st June
- All legal limits on social contact removed.
- Hopes to re-open final closed sectors of the economy.
Will Bingo Halls Survive These Further Closures?
As always, these new guidelines are always subject to change, should they not be working to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
We’ve seen quite a few shake ups and turn arounds over the last few months especially, but we can only hope now that these new plans will work.
Bingo halls in particular have been hit so hard financially this past year due to the impact of the pandemic, and some have even had to shut their doors entirely. They were among the last businesses to be allowed to open after the first national lockdown in March 2020, and were also forced to close once again during the most recent lockdowns too.
It’s completely understandable as they are fairly large and social venues of course, but it’s such a shame to see so many clubs struggling now – especially as they went to such great length to incorporate the correct safety measures to enable correct social distancing throughout. Many bingo halls were also actively involved in helping people through lockdown, such as making meals for the elderly and vulnerable, and are important to many communities.
I really hope this isn’t the end for many bingo clubs out there, as live bingo is such a massive part of our history here in the UK. Fingers crossed that people will want to get back playing and socialising as soon as it is safe to do so, and that the bingo hall business will thrive once again soon…