VENUES OK TO REOPEN JULY 19: REPORT

Venues and nightclubs in the U.K. will reportedly be allowed to reopen 7/19 without testing requirements or vaccine passports. A formal decision is due 7/12.

The Evening Standard reported that a government source said: “We are increasingly confident that people are protected and the plan is to reopen everything, with no exceptions.”

The news will be welcomed by the British live music industry, which has been lobbying for confirmation that businesses will be able to fully reopen later in July without social distancing after a four-week delay to the ending of restrictions.

In addition, ES reports that vaccine passports are said to be non-mandatory for festivals this summer, though testing is likely to be required for mass events.

The decision comports with recently published results from the first stage of the U.K.’s Events Research Programme that revealed a very low number of COVID-19 infections, just 0.05%, among participants for the nine events studied.

By signing a commons motion for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 22 MPs from the main political parties joined the music industry's plea for further government support on the road to a successful reopening.

The motion calls for the government to:

• Establish a government-backed insurance scheme to pave the way for live music events to proceed
• Extend existing government support to match the extension of COVID-19 restrictions
• Ensure parity across U.K. Nations and Regions regarding extension of the 100% business rate relief
• Continue the VAT freeze at 5% for cultural tickets beyond September
• Give additional support to freelancers