Coronavirus UK: Gyms to reopen in England on 25 July
Nail bars, tanning salons and tattoo parlours across England can reopen on MONDAY while gyms can welcome back customers from July 25
- Oliver Dowden said that beauticians, tattooists and spas can reopen on Monday
- However ‘high risk’ treatments, involving working near the face, will be banned
- Indoor pools, gyms and other sports facilities will then follow suit from July 25
- Outdoor swimming pools in England able to reopen their doors from Saturday
- Theatres given go ahead to put on performances outdoors from this weekend
- Move by Mr Dowden represents latest steps taken by Government to reopen UK
By Jack Maidment, Deputy Political Editor For Mailonline
Published: 12:10 EDT, 9 July 2020 | Updated: 20:19 EDT, 9 July 2020
Fitness and beauty treatment lovers in England were today given the green light to return to their fitness and grooming regimes as ministers announced that nail bars and gyms will reopen this month.
After months of ‘letting themselves go’ in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, fitness lovers were given a welcome boost by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, who set out the latest easing of lockdown rules – and told people they can head back to the gym from July 25.
Meanwhile, tanning salons, tattoo parlours and other so-called ‘close contact services’ will be allowed to welcome back customers from Monday – allowing Britons to get a much-needed makeover or a fake tan top-up for the first time in almost four months.
However those desperate for a face waxing, eyelash treatments, make-up application or a facial treatment will have to wait a little longer, as they will not yet be allowed.
Meanwhile, businesses will be expected to keep records of staff and customers and share these with NHS Test and Trace where requested
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Mr Dowden said outdoor swimming pools can reopen on Saturday as he also published guidance to enable competitive grassroots team sports to resume, beginning with cricket this weekend.
Outdoor arts performances – including theatres, opera, dance and music – will also be able to resume from Saturday although audience numbers will be restricted and will be subject to social distancing rules.
A pilot programme will be launched to figure out how to return to socially distanced indoor performances ‘as soon as possible’, Mr Dowden said.
Planning rules will be changed so that theatres, concert halls and live music venues will be protected from demolition, stopping those that have been made temporarily vacant during lockdown from disappearing altogether.
Mr Dowden said ‘normal life is slowly returning’, telling the press conference: ‘Having allowed hairdressers to reopen, beauticians, tattooists, spas, tanning salons and other close contact services can now do the same, I’m pleased to say, from Monday.
‘Of course that will be subject to some restrictions on particularly high-risk services.’
Oliver Dowden today announced that gyms in England will be allowed to reopen from July 25
Mr Dowden said people will ‘no longer have to work out in their park or on their living room floor’
Tanning salons in England will be able to reopen on Monday next week after being closed since March
Nail bars, beauticians, spas and tattoo parlours will also be allowed to welcome back customers from Monday
The department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said the work which involves the highest risk zone – directly in front of the face – should not be made available to clients.
This means that treatments such as face waxing, eyelash treatments, make-up application and facial treatments should not be provided until Government advice changes – due to the much greater risk of transmission.
And beauticians should take care to wear extra protection, including clear face visors or screens, where social distancing cannot be maintained.
Today, beauty industry leaders said the move was a ‘positive step forward’, but there was still a way to go.
Millie Kendall, from the British Beauty Council, said: ‘It’s a positive step, but we are still only part of the way there.
‘We will keep working closely with governing bodies and supporting everyone in beauty until we are able to achieve the fully-reinvigorated beauty industry we all want.’
Nail bars and beauty salons: What treatments are beauticians allowed to give – and how can I book?
Beauticians are only allowed to provide services that are not directly in front of the face, which the government has warned is the ‘highest risk zone’.
This means the below treatments are not allowed:
- Face waxing, sugaring or threading
- Facial treatments
- Advanced facial technical
- Eyelash treatments
- Make-up application
- Dermarolling
- Dermaplaning
- Microblading
- Electrolysis on the face
- Eyebrow treatments
When it is not possible to keep a two-metre distance, beauticians are advised to wear PPE that covers the face, or use a screen or other barrier.
Beauty salons will operate an appointment-only booking system to limit their capacity and will keep the time taken for the treatment at a minumum.
Hand washing and surface cleaning will also be done regularly, alongside cleaning disposable equipment when possible.
Staff are advised to avoid skin to skin contact and wear gloves where possible, with nail bars and tanning salons being able to make an exception.
Customer chains will be spaced out and, other than water, no food or drink will be provided.
If staff work closely to each other, then it is recommended there are a limited or fixed amount of workers.
Mr Dowden said the July 25 reopening date for gyms would also see indoor swimming pools and leisure centres allowed to get back up and running.
He said fitness is ‘incredibly important for both physical and mental health’ as he outlined the Government’s plans to get people back in the gym.
‘Even at the height of the lockdown it was considered an essential activity with countless people hitting their parks for their daily run or transforming their living rooms into temporary gyms,’ he said.
‘From this weekend onwards millions of people will be able to rejoin their local sports teams as soon as their organisations publish approve guidance.
‘Recreational cricket is back on this weekend. Five a side football, basketball, hockey and countless other sports will follow shortly after.
‘And from this Saturday they will also be able to enjoy outdoor pools and water parks.
‘From Saturday July 25 people will no longer have to work out in their park or on their living room floor, they will be able to get back into their gyms, their indoor swimming pools, their leisure centres and jump on that spin bike or treadmill for the first time in months.’
In other coronavirus developments in the UK today:
- Thousands of taxi drivers, cleaners and shop workers will be tested for Covid-19 from tomorrow as part of a new trial — even if they have no symptoms, the Department of Health revealed;
- The Government failed to hit its target of sending everyone their coronavirus test results within 24 hours by the end of June, with just over half of all test results (55 per cent) received within a day of swabbing;
- British holidaymakers jetting to Ibiza or Majorca will have to wear face masks whenever they leave their hotel rooms from Saturday or face a £90 fine;
- Nearly 60,000 workers face redundancy as Boots, John Lewis, Rolls Royce and Burger King announce layoffs just hours after Rishi Sunak’s £30bn bailout that was supposed to save the High Street post-Covid.
‘Out of use’ markers on exercise machines and a protective screen inside the Gym Group in Vauxhall, London, after it was announced gyms will be allowed to reopen from 25 July
Social distancing markers inside the Gym Group in Vauxhall, London. Mr Dowden said fitness is ‘incredibly important for both physical and mental health’
Social distancing markers inside the Gym Group in Vauxhall, with some equipment also seen spaced out as gyms prepare to reopen towards the end of this month
An out of use sink inside the changing rooms at the Gym Group in Vauxhall and a sign reading ‘please keep a safe distance’, alongside a notice reminding people to wash their hands
UK announces 85 more coronavirus deaths
Britain today announced 85 more coronavirus deaths as promising data revealed Northern Ireland has now gone a week without recording any Covid-19 fatalities.
Department of Health chiefs say the official death toll — which only takes into account lab-confirmed fatalities and not suspected ones — now stands at 44,602 with the worst days of the crisis now over.
Just 89 deaths were recorded last Thursday, meaning the daily toll has barely changed in a week. But the average number of deaths has dropped 20 per cent since then — from 110 to 87.
Separate data released today from a government surveillance testing scheme, which has swabbed thousands of households in England, suggests the outbreak is still shrinking but only slowly.
Just 0.03 per cent of the population are currently infected — or one in every 3,900 people — down from 0.04 per cent last week and 0.09 per cent a week before, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Mr Dowden insisted that people would still be able to have ‘fun’ when they exercise despite many activities likely to be subject to strict rules.
‘The judgment we’ve taken with this (pubs) and swimming pools and elsewhere is it is better to reopen with those restrictions than not reopen at all,’ he said.
‘Of course it is going to take a while for people’s confidence to build, it is rarely the case that you pull up the shutter and everyone comes rushing in.
‘But equally the experience in the UK and elsewhere is that over time people have gained confidence and have started to engage more.’
He said people will not have have to wear a face covering when working out.
He insisted a ‘whole series of mitigating measures’ would be in place in gyms, adding: ‘We have not taken a decision to require the wearing of face masks in respect of gyms.’
Mr Dowden said the Government’s approach to face coverings was ‘context specific’ and endorsed by scientific advisers.
The Culture Secretary also urged the nation to give their support to the struggling arts sector in the coming months.
He said: ‘I’m really urging people to get out there and to play their part: buy the tickets for outdoor plays and musical recitals, get to your local gallery and support your local businesses.
‘Our fight began with a collective effort and I really hope it will end with one. At the beginning we all stayed at home to protect the NHS and save lives, now the British public has a new part to play.
‘It’s time to eat out to help out, to enjoy the arts to help out and to work out to help out. It’s over to all of you to help the country recover safely.’
Bosses of major gym firms have praised the reopening dates.
Richard Darwin, chief executive of The Gym Group, which runs 179 across the UK, said: ‘Reopening gyms is an important step forward for the physical and mental wellbeing of our members and millions of other gym-goers. We can’t wait to welcome them back.’
The further loosening of England’s lockdown rules came after Nicola Sturgeon announced a wave of changes to restrictions for Scotland.
The changes set out by the First Minister mean that hairdressers, indoor pubs and restaurants, museums, and galleries can all reopen on July 15.
Places of worship will be able to reopen for communal prayer and congregational services on the same day but there will be restrictions on numbers, singing and chanting.
The Government has been facing increasing pressure from MPs and the fitness industry to announce the return of the nation’s gyms.
Mr Dowden had earlier today told the House of Commons that he intended to make an announcement ‘imminently’ on the issue.
He had said that gyms had ‘engaged very constructively’ with the Government to ‘overcome some of the hurdles’ to them welcoming back customers.
He had said: ‘I hope to be able to make an announcement imminently in relation to that.
‘As I’ve said previously, the aim has always been to get gyms back by mid-July.’
A hand sanitiser station inside the Gym Group in Vauxhall, London, alongside a sign reminding to have a ‘quick squirt’ when arriving and leaving the premises
Social distancing markers inside the Gym Group in Vauxhall, with the hashtag #CloseEnough
Social distancing markers around spaced out benches in the Gym Group in Vauxhall, London
An ‘out of use’ marker on an exercise machine inside the Gym Group in Vauxhall on Thursday
Team sports to start returning from SATURDAY with cricket first – but car shares to the match and post-game clubhouse drinks are still off-limits
Team sports will start returning from Saturday with cricket allowed to resume first – but car shares to the match and post-game clubhouse drinks are still off-limits.
Sports governing bodies must submit ‘detailed safety plans’ before returning this summer, in rules laid out by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Supporters can attend matches in small groups and must socially distance, with different households allowed to participate in training and fixtures.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has already submitted its proposals, allowing the recreational sport to return (file photo)
In each sport’s action plan, it is required to set out how it will operate, its mitigation measures and any necessary adjustments.
New guidelines issued today include players and spectators walking or cycling to the match if possible, minimising their use of public transport and car-sharing with people from different households.
Club toilets will be open before, during and for half an hour after the match, with thorough cleaning measures, and bars will be reopened in line with government guidance, with groups limited to six people.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has already submitted its proposals, allowing the recreational sport to return.
The measures are provisional and can be suspended if there is a local or national virus outbreak.
Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said: ‘This is fantastic news for the millions of people who miss playing sport with their friends and teammates.
‘This guidance sets out how community sport can be done safely, so many more sports can get going again.
‘Sports Governing Bodies are now putting stringent measures in place so that the millions of people that play, officiate and volunteer can keep safe while enjoying all the benefits that grassroots sport brings.’
