Live music and performance venues, more beauty treatments at salons and small wedding receptions will be able to resume in England from Saturday.
Lockdown will ease further across the country as casinos, bowling alleys, skating rinks and soft play centres are back in business, Boris Johnson has confirmed. However, Greater Manchester must wait.
The Prime Minister has also introduced tough new measures targeting breaches of social distancing restrictions including fines of up to £3,200 for refusing to wear a face covering and illegal rave organisers could face up to £10,000 penalties.
Boris Johnson
Changes to lockdown from Saturday 15 August:
Indoor theatre, music and performance venues will be able to reopen with socially distanced audiences
Wedding receptions in the form of a sit-down meal for up to 30 guests will be permitted
The piloting of a small number of sporting events to test the safe return of spectators will resume, commencing with the final of the World Snooker Championship at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre over the weekend
Casinos, bowling alleys, skating rinks and soft play centres will be allowed to reopen
“Close contact” beauty services such as facials, eyebrow threading, eyelash treatments, make up application and microblading will resume
Pilots will take place at conference venues ahead of the expected resumption of business events from 1 October at the earliest
Deansgate
Speaking about the new easing of measures, the PM said: “Most people in this country are following the rules and doing their bit to control the virus, but we must remain focused and we cannot be complacent.
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“That is why we are strengthening the enforcement powers available to use against those who repeatedly flout the rules.”
The new guidance will not apply in areas where lockdown measures are in place – such as the areas in Greater Manchester where local lockdown restrictions were recently brought in.
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Parts of east Lancashire and West Yorkshire were also placed under tightened restrictions this week – including Preston and 18 other areas.
This latest easing of England’s lockdown was due to take place on 1 August, but was postponed after the Office for National Statistics expressed concerns about an increase in the number of positive tests across the country.
According to the BBC, police forces in areas of concern, such as here in Greater Manchester and in Leicester, have had to massively increase patrols – with deployments sometimes being larger than on New Year’s Eve.
Further detail on the new enforcement measures is to be set out in the coming week.
News
Police appeal to find next of kin after man found outside Palace Theatre
Daisy Jackson
Police are trying to track down the family of a man who died after being found unresponsive outside the Palace Theatre in Manchester.
The man, who has now been named as Jonathan Bernard Carroll, was seen outside the city centre theatre at around 6.30am on Tuesday 12 November.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and Mr Carroll was taken to hospital.
Tragically, the 47-year-old passed away a short time later.
A large cordon was in place on Whitworth Street and Oxford Road while police and security attended the incident.
Greater Manchester Police are now appealing to find his next of kin.
It’s believed that he resided in the Salford area of Greater Manchester.
Anyone with any information should contact the Coroner’s Office on 0161 856 1376.
Greater Manchester public urged to help get people ‘off the streets and on their feet’ before Christmas
Emily Sergeant
Locals are being urged to help get hundreds of people “off the streets and back on their feet” this festive season.
As the temperatures told colder by the day, and Christmas creeps closer and closer, Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity is bringing back ‘1000 Beds for Christmas’, and the massively-important initiative is aiming to provide 1,000 nights of accommodation to people at risk of homelessness before the big day arrives.
Forming part of the ongoing ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, this festive fundraising mission is designed to provide food, shelter, warmth, and dedicated vital wrap-around support for those who need it most.
The charity says it wants to build on the “incredible success of 2023”, which raised more than £55,000 and provided 1,800 nights of accommodation.
Stockport-based property finance specialists, Together – which has supported the campaign for the last two years – has, once again, generously pledged to match every public donation for the first £20,000 raised.
Unfamiliar with the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme? Since 2017, when rough sleeping peaked, the initiative has helped ensure a significantly-higher rate of reduction in the numbers of people facing a night on streets in Greater Manchester than seen nationally.
The landmark scheme has given people the chance to rebuild their lives, while also giving them access to key services and opportunities that allows them to stay off the streets for good.
Despite the scheme’s recent success, organisations across Greater Manchester are under “a huge amount of pressure” to meet the demand for their services this winter, and given the current economic outlook, household budgets will continue to be squeezed – leaving people on the sharp end of inequality and poverty.
The Manc -
13th August 2020 
