COVID-19: Prime Minister Boris Johnson okays fans return to stadiums in October
NEWS DIGEST – The government has paved the way for fans to return to stadiums from October after Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined the next steps to ease coronavirus restrictions.
The Prime Minister said trials would begin to see larger gatherings occur in places like sports stadiums as well as announcing most remaining leisure centres would be allowed to reopen on August 1.
Mass gatherings at sports grounds have been banned since March as part of social distancing measures brought in to combat the pandemic.
But as the Prime Minister set out the next stage of the recovery road map he said the government were hopeful crowds could return after some test events from October onwards.
Read Also:
“We will pilot larger gatherings in venues such as sports stadia with a view to a wider reopening in the autumn,” Johnson said. “All of these measures, for August 1, should be done in a COVID-secure way.
“From October we intend to bring back audiences in stadia and allow conferences and other business events to recommence, again these changes must be done in a COVID-secure way subject to the successful outcome of pilots.”
It is said that venues are to provide information on measures being taken to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 infection, a code of behavior for spectators advising them to take a responsible approach, such as staying away if suffering from any symptoms of the virus, careful control of seat bookings to ensure social distancing is observed, providing alternatives to spectators to help them avoid using public transport and providing additional hygiene.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has previously said top-flight clubs are keen to act as “test pilots” for any experiments around a phased reopening of stadiums.
