Reopening Day for Many Yorkshire Coast Businesses

People on the Yorkshire Coast can get a haircut for the first time in months today - and then go to the pub for a pint outdoors, if they'd like to.

Gyms, theme parks, pub beer gardens, zoos, hairdressers and non-essential retail can all now welcome back customers.

Shops will also be allowed to extend their opening hours to 10pm to help prevent crowding.

Restaurants can serve people - but only outside.

people can now stay in self-contained accommodation - like caravans - again, but international travel is still banned.

Gatherings remain limited to six people, or two households and there are changes to the contact tracing system as well.

Superintendent Mike Walker from North Yorkshire Police says they will be helping explain the changes to business and the public.

With the further easing of restrictions today there is a warning from health leaders in North Yorkshire that we need to make sensible decisions as we head outdoors.

Richard Webb is the county Councils director of health services.

As retailers and hospitality business along the Yorkshire Coast reopen today there are calls for everyone to stick to the social distancing rules and make sensible decisions when heading out to the shops or cafes.

Neil Hodgson runs Sandside Cafe in Sandsend he says respect is the key to successfully easing the restrictions.

Superintendent Mike Walker says the police will be helping business owners to understand the new rules.

What Changes Come In To Force Today?

Non-essential retail will reopen. This will include but not be limited to:

• clothing stores and tailors
• charity and antique shops
• homeware and carpet stores
• showrooms (such as for vehicles as well as kitchens and bathrooms)
• electronic goods and mobile phone shops
• florists and plant nurseries
• retail travel agents
• photography stores
• remaining auction houses and markets
• tobacco and vape stores
• betting shops (subject to additional COVID-secure measures, such as limiting the use of gaming machines).
• car washes (except for automatic car washes that are already open)
• Personal care facilities and close contact services will reopen. This will include:
• hair, beauty and nail salons
• body and skin piercing services
• tattoo studios
• spas and massage centres (except for steam rooms and saunas)
• holistic therapy (including acupuncture, homeopathy, and reflexology)
• tanning salons
• Indoor sports and leisure facilities will reopen. This will include at:
• gyms and leisure centres
• sports courts
• swimming pools
• dance studios and fitness centres
• driving and shooting ranges
• riding arenas
• archery venues
• climbing wall centres

Self-contained holiday accommodation in which all facilities (including for sleeping, catering, bathing, and indoor lobbies and corridors for entry and exit) are restricted to exclusive use of a single household/support bubble will reopen.

Outdoor areas at hospitality venues (cafes, restaurants, bars, pubs, social clubs, including in members’ clubs) can reopen, including for takeaway alcohol. Some venues may wish to erect outdoor shelters. To be considered ‘outdoors’, shelters, marquees and other structures can have a roof but need to have at least 50% of the area of their walls open at all times while in use. These venues may allow customers to use toilets located inside.

At any premises serving alcohol, customers will be required to order, be served and eat/drink while seated (“table service”). Venues will be prohibited from providing smoking equipment, such as shisha pipes, for use on the premises.

Outdoor attractions will reopen at:

• adventure parks and activities
• animal attractions (such as at zoos, safari parks and aquariums)
• drive-in events, such as for cinemas, theatres, and other performances.
• film studios
• funfairs and fairgrounds
• model villages
• museums and galleries
• skating rinks
• theme parks
• trampolining parks
• water and aqua parks
• Public buildings, such as community halls and centres, and libraries, can reopen.

Test and Trace Requirements

From Monday 12 April, venues in hospitality, the tourism and leisure industry, close contact services, community centres and village halls must:

• ask every customer or visitor (over the age of 16) to provide their name and contact details
• keep a record of all staff working on their premises and shift times on a given day and their contact details
• keep these records of customers, visitors and staff for 21 days and provide data to NHS Test and Trace if requested
• display an official NHS QR code poster so that customers and visitors can ‘check in’ using the NHS COVID-19 app as an alternative to providing their contact details
• adhere to General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

This is a change to the previous guidance and all persons entering these premises will be required to provide information, not just one person from the group.

Hospitality venues have additional requirements and must also take reasonable steps to refuse entry to anyone who refuses to participate. This requirement applies to any establishment that provides an on-site service and to any events that take place on its premises. It does not apply where services are taken off-site immediately, for example, a food or drink outlet that only provides takeaways. If a business offers a mixture of a sit-in and takeaway service, contact information needs only to be sought for customers who are dining in.