Travel agencies have been given the green light to reopen from mid-June, subject to meeting the government’s Covid-19 guidelines.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that non-essential high street retail operations would be permitted to resume from 15 June – this includes travel agency branches.
He said: “From 15 June, we intend to allow all other non-essential retail, ranging from department stores to small, independent shops, to reopen.
“This change will be contingent upon progress against the government’s five tests and will only be permitted for those retail premises which are Covid-secure.”
New guidance has been published for the retail sector setting out the steps they will need to take to meet social distancing and hygiene standards.
These measure include:
- increased handwashing and surface cleaning
- encouraging homeworking wherever possible or otherwise making “every reasonable effort” to
- observe two metres’ social distancing
- mitigating risk where social distancing is not possible
These measures may also include using screens or barriers to separate people
Business will only be able to open once they have completed a risk assessment, in consultation with trade union representatives or workers, and are confident of being able to manage Covid-19 risks.
