Track and trace; obligations of hospitality undertakings; North-East "lockdown"

A tsunami of fairly grim reading for the embattled licensed trade this afternoon, with the publication of a series of regulations under powers contained in the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984. As is now this government's style, not a single one has been debated by Parliament, nor in any other meaningful way consulted on with those they affect.

The first is the mandatory track and trace regulations, contained in The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Collection of Contact Details etc and Related Requirements) Regulations 2020. They come into force at midnight tonight with the exception of the QR code provisions which apply from 24 September 2020.

Then there is The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Obligations of Hospitality Undertakings) (England) Regulations 2020, which come into force at midnight tonight. These now oblige the hospitality trade to take reasonable steps not to take bookings for tables for more than 6 where an exception does not apply, not to admit groups of 6 unless an exception applies, to ensure persons in one group don't mingle with another, and to keep tables apart.

Finally, and apologies for a North East bias on this blog, here are the North-East lockdown regulations. These come into force at midnight tonight.

I'll be doing some more detailed analysis on this lot over the coming days, and indeed will be talking about them at the NE IOL meeting on Monday.