According to UK Insider
Sticky club floors, overpriced drinks, and raging hangovers could return for ravers if England's nightlife opens at full capacity as planned
The government is planning to lift all legal limits on social contact on June 21 — but scientists warn that the return of nightlife "as normal" could lead to surging COVID-19 cases. Some nightlife operators told Insider they intended to reopen without COVID-19 safety measures.
Young people in the UK largely
haven't been vaccinated yet
Brits are able to visit late-night pubs, clubs, and bars from the age of 18. But most people in the country under 30 haven't been vaccinated yet because the UK has largely prioritized vaccination based on age. Those in their 20s are expected to start getting invitations for their vaccines any day now.
"In fact, this is the age group where there might be the most risk in terms of ongoing viral infection and transmission, because they're just not been vaccinated," Dr. Julian Tang, a consultant virologist at Leicester Royal Infirmary and honorary associate professor at Leicester University, told Insider.
"If anything, I think it's pushing back and what's happening is that the vaccine barrier that we've erected, and are still building on, is controlling the virus in those who were vaccinated," he said. "The unvaccinated may actually still be a reservoir for the virus."
"In fact, this is the age group where there might be the most risk in terms of ongoing viral infection and transmission, because they're just not been vaccinated," Dr. Julian Tang, a consultant virologist at Leicester Royal Infirmary and honorary associate professor at Leicester University, told Insider.
Tang noted that the number of daily new COVID-19 cases in the UK had leveled off — according to figures from the UK Government, the daily number of new confirmed cases has hovered around the 2,000 mark for the past four weeks — indicating "the virus is not going away."
"If anything, I think it's pushing back and what's happening is that the vaccine barrier that we've erected, and are still building on, is controlling the virus in those who were vaccinated," he said. "The unvaccinated may actually still be a reservoir for the virus."
When people go clubbing, they're going into "a pool of essentially non immune people" without social distancing, he said.
"You'll get a surge anyway with indoor dining opening up and increased household mixing anyway, but I think you may see a surge, perhaps isolated surges, among these nightclubbing populations," Tang added.
Insider's Hilary Brueck previously reported that bars were particularly dangerous for spreading COVID-19 because people might be less likely to pay attention to social-distancing protocols when they've had something to drink. Most bar workers didn't have sick pay, making it harder to stay home if they got symptoms, and even people who don't have any symptoms and feel well can still carry, and spread, the virus, Brueck reported.
Some venues are opening
without safety measures in place
The hospitality industry is adamant it can reopen — and can do so safely.
"There is no real evidence that pubs and restaurants, with strict hygiene regimes and social-distancing measures, were spreading the virus," Sharif Uddin, the owner of shisha bar and restaurant Dusk in Brentwood, Essex, said.
"Customers are probably safer here than in supermarkets or eating with friends and family at home," he added.
Research suggests this is false.
A 2020 study in Scotland published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs showed that despite the efforts of bar operators and guidance from the UK government, potentially significant risks of COVID-19 transmission persisted in a substantial minority of observed bars, especially when customers were drunk.
"Observed incidents of concern included close physical interaction between customers and with staff, frequently featuring alcohol intoxication and rarely effectively stopped by staff," the research concluded.
Peter Marks, the CEO of Rekom, Britain's largest specialist late-night bar operator, told Insider the company's venues were set to open on June 21 "without COVID measures."
Marks said that there had been talk of limits on capacity in the early days of nightlife reopening but that this "isn't something that we want to encourage."
Marks said proof of vaccination, as well as rapid tests, could be suitable for special events such as vacations or festivals, but was not worth the time or planning for "spontaneous" events like going to the pub, a nightclub, or a comedy club.
"There's no difference between a pub and a nightclub at midnight, and so it's daft to pretend that there is," he said.
Sacha Lord, nighttime-economy advisor at Greater Manchester Combined Authority in the northwest of England, said that social-distancing measures made venues more expensive to operate because of the extra costs of limited capacity, table service, and more security.
Lord is also a cofounder of the Warehouse Project and Manchester's Parklife festival. He said Parklife would open at its normal 80,000 capacity in September with no social distancing in place, though he said staff members would hand out sanitizer and many festivals would go cashless.
"You can't run a festival or you can't run a nightclub or a live-music gig with social distancing," Lord said. "It's just impossible. So we are gearing up to operate as normal."
"My biggest concern is the potential for conflict at our front door and the staff having to take abuse and harassment," he said, adding that it could be "human whack-a-mole."
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