All non-essential retailers and hospitality businesses in Ruddington will be forced to close again this week if plans revealed by the Prime Minister today receive parliamentary backing.
With trick-or-treating already off the agenda for tonight, Boris Johnson’s Hallowe’en announcement is a scary warning that even more urgent action is required to stem the alarming second surge of COVID-19 infections in England. It follows stricter measures already announced in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
Mr Johnson was joined by England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty and the government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance for Saturday’s highly anticipated, televised briefing – which was delayed by almost three hours as Ministers thrashed out the final details. The trio revealed the gravity of the current situation before running through the new measures, with the Prime Minister saying they were “…humbled in the face of nature” and “it’s time to take action because there is no alternative”.
The tougher new restrictions – effectively a ‘Tier 4’ – would be imposed for a month initially for the whole of England. It’s set to come into force on Thursday (5th November) – only six days after new Tier 3 rules in Nottinghamshire which were already more stringent than in many other areas. These have already caused some of our village centre businesses to close for the duration.
This next step is the closest we’ve come yet to the original UK ‘lockdown’ in March – with the Government returning to its original message: “Stay at Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives”. Full regulations will be published this Tuesday (November 3rd), and MPs will vote on them on Wednesday.
The main implications are:-
- All pubs and restaurants must close, although takeaways and deliveries will be permitted
- All non-essential retail must close, though supermarkets won’t have to follow the Welsh example of fencing off non-essential goods
- There will be no mixing of people inside homes, except for childcare and other forms of support
- Manufacturing and construction will be encouraged to keep going
- Outbound international travel will be banned, except for work
- Travel within the UK will be discouraged, except for work
- Overnight stays away from home will be allowed only for work purposes
- Courts, schools, and universities will remain open
- Outdoor exercise and recreation will be encouraged
- Private prayer will continue in places of worship, but not services
This means even our Ruddington hospitality venues still serving substantial meals, which went to great lengths to create dedicated, socially distanced outdoor seating areas for their customers earlier in the Coronavirus pandemic (above), will no longer be able to use them. After initially saying the sale of alcohol would not be allowed as part of any takeaway service, the government has now relented.
You can find the confirmed list of new national restrictions from November 5th >>HERE<<.
Ruddington Village Centre Partnership – which runs the monthly Ruddington Village Market – has announced the next one planned for Saturday November 7th has now been cancelled.
Organiser Sue Matthews tells us: “The decision has again been hard to make, but we believe this is in the best interest of our traders, visitors, volunteers and local residents. A decision regarding the December market will be taken in due course.”
Sue adds: “We have notified our traders and asked them to post to our Facebook page to promote any delivery or online options so our residents can still access their products and we are considering running a ‘Virtual Market’ on Instagram Live next Saturday from midday. Keep an eye on our social media for more information on this.”
After this initial four week national ‘lockdown’, ending on December 2nd, the stated ‘exit strategy’ is that different parts of the country will revert to the existing ‘Tiers’ system – to be decided depending on how serious the infection rate remains in different areas at that point. It could mean Rushcliffe returns to Tier 3 or even drops back to Tier 2, as was originally anticipated. At this point we’ll know what sort of Christmas and New Year celebrations Ruddingtonians will be able to have this year.
Meantime, the Government’s furlough scheme for businesses will be extended through November rather than finishing today, as was originally planned.
We’ll keep you posted on RUDDINGTON.info about the latest announcements and how these will impact our village.
