w/c 29th March 2021
It was good news earlier this week with the Office for National Statistic revealing that 54.7% of people in England are likely to have COVID-19 antibodies in their system as a result of previous infections and that over 26 million people in England have now received their first vaccine.
With positive figures like this it would be easy to get complacent, especially with the nicer weather we have had earlier in the week and the return of the rule of six outdoors. These antibody figures do not however mean that over half of the population have immunity and it is imperative that we continue to be cautious by following the hands, face, space rules and getting tested regularly.
In just a few weeks, alongside retail, outdoor leisure and personal care businesses, hospitality will begin reopening so that we can once again enjoy food and drinks in our favourite venues around the town. In a bid to assist with the restricted reopening, the council will be allowing free pavement licenses for hospitality venues between 12th April and 16th May. Terms and conditions will apply and you can find out more by visit the news section of the Southend BID website or by emailing “licact2003@southend.gov.uk” for more guidance.
If you have walked through town this week you will have seen the fresh safety signage that has been installed which follows the new Visit Southend branding. We have also produced external “queue here” floor stickers in the same style to help firms with their queue management. There are limited numbers available so if you would like some of these for your business then drop us an email at “Hello@SouthendBID.com”.
The reopening on the 12th April is not a guarantee – we must all do our part to ensure long suffering businesses can reopen. Let’s enjoy our bank holiday weekend but remember that we are not over the pandemic yet, so for the foreseeable future we must continue to channel the immortal words of The Police - “Don’t stand so close to me”.