Self-isolation a ‘major unresolved issue’

The issue of staff being required to self-isolate after being pinged by the NHS app remains a major unresolved issue, but is subject to high-level discussions with government, MCA’s The Conversation has heard.

Kate Nicholls said it was clearly a critical issue that was “rising to the top of the priority list” for operators, as venues are forced to close venues due to a lack of available staff.

One proposed solution is ‘test to remain’, with the question of whether it would cover double vaccinated people, or could it be more widely used in quarantine arrangements for the resumption of international travel.

The UKHospitality boss said another big uncertainty was around what messaging there would be around advising people return to the office, to support town and city centre businesses.

Nicholls said the latest government messaging signalled a clear shift away from a focus on Covid case numbers, towards managing the risk and living wit the various.

She told the virtual event: “I think it is inevitable that you will see cases increasing, and it’s helpful that the government is framing the debate in a way that says, ‘as the whole economy reopens and we socialise more, we are going to see more cases’, which is a very different tone than we’ve seen previously, that appeared to blame hospitality for increasing case numbers.

“You are seeing that sense of blame or trepidation coming through in some of the health comments and some of the local authority comments about test and tracing pings and self-isolation and notifications coming through.

“But it’s quite clear that most of those notifications are not coming through because somebody has caught the virus or had a case identified in a venue, it’s coming through on the app rather than being linked to the premises directly, so I think we can take heart from that.

“This is not a total abandonment of caution and government control measures. While the legal restrictions fall away, the guidance will remain in place on health and safety risk assessments, and that’s where we need to see the detail to be absolutely sure that this is not going to impose a commercial burden on businesses. Equally that guidance is helpful to reassure the public and our team members that we are doing what we need to do to keep them safe, with a focus on hygiene, sanitation and ventilation where feel it is appropriate.”