The government is set to start recruiting people to attend packed football matches, cinemas and nightclubs to test if they are safe to reopen as lockdown lifts.
The trials are part of scientific tests under a new government programme, called the Events Research Programme (ERP), before restrictions on mass social gatherings are eased. The pilots programme will be used to provide key scientific data and research into how small and large-scale events could be permitted to safely reopen in line with the Prime Minister’s roadmap out of lockdown as part of step four, commencing no earlier than 21st June.
6,000 clubbers will return to the dancefloor in Liverpool this month, to participate in a covid-secure event trial.
On the 30th April and 1st May, 3,000 people will attend Liverpool s Bramley-Moore Dock each day for two of DJ and producer Yousef s Circus events, allowing the ERP to study club environments and coronavirus. People who want to attend must live within a Liverpool postcode and will be subject to rapid coronavirus testing prior to the event, as well as a second test some time after the event.
Claire McColgan MBE, Director of Culture and Tourism in Liverpool previously told the Liverpool Echo: Liverpool is an event city. They are a critical part of our economy, culture and community and so we are delighted to be working with partners across Government, our colleagues at University of Liverpool and a number of local venues and promoters to plan this series of pilot events.
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Reopening hospitality
Pubs will be allowed to reopen their beer gardens from April 12, but everyone who visits will have to check in on the NHS’s Test and Trace app.
The Prime Minister is expected also to confirm opening up non-essential retail, hairdressers and beauty salons, and allowing Britons to holiday in the UK with their own household.
But drinkers and diners from April 12 must comply with a toughening of the test and trace rules, which previously only required one person from each group to register their attendance on the NHS Covid app.
All customers must check-in under the new regulations, allowing the NHS to more easily contact anyone who may have been in contact with someone infected with the virus.