Wetherspoons pubs in Milton Keynes will scrap rule of six from Monday

    Pub giant 'Wetherspoons' have said that the NHS Test and Trace system will also be ditched, unless pub-goers choose to sign in themselves.

    Wetherspoons pubs have stated they will do away with mask requirements for customers from Monday 19th July, but will still require staff to wear face coverings in some cases.

    They have also said that customers will be welcomed back to ordering at the bar and group sizes will no longer be limited to just six people, as currently applies.

    Despite some changed, there are also many rules that the pub will not be changing such as floor screens between tables in pubs and till-surround screens on bar serveries, hand sanitizers at the entrance and at various locations around the customer area of the pub, as well as in staff areas.

    Directional signage for entrances and exits etc. will also remain alongside natural ventilation by keeping doors and windows open as much as possible.

    Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said: “When pubs reopened after the first lockdown, in July last year, a sensible set of measures, as outlined above, was agreed between the hospitality industry, the health authorities and other interested parties, which kept transmission in hospitality venues at low levels.

    “Wetherspoon had over 50 million customer visits, recorded through the Test and Trace system, in the second half of 2020 without a single reported example of an “outbreak” among customers, as defined by the health authorities.

    “As UK Hospitality, the British institute of Innkeepers and the British Beer and Pub Association said in October last year, of 22,500 hospitality venues surveyed, just 1% said they were linked by NHS test and trace to an incident”.

    “While risks from COVID-19 cannot be eliminated completely, we believe that the July 2020 guidelines are a sensible backstop for the industry and strike a fair balance between health, employment and the economy.

    “It is hoped that arbitrary and capricious government rules, which have been a regular feature in recent months, such as the requirement for substantial meals, curfews and table service, which have no scientific provenance, can be avoided in future. These sorts of rules damage the economy, are extraordinarily difficult for pub staff to implement and are invariably regarded by customers as absurd.”

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