Coronavirus Update

Following consultation with our partners at VisitBritain please find below an update on COVID-19. Please do feed this back to us by email with an updates on how your business has been impacted at membership@makeityork.com. We will then pass this intelligence onto the local, regional and national level. Importantly, this means that we can inform VisitBritain and DCMS so they can continue to feed in tourism concerns to Government.

• Please follow the government COVID-19 guidance for non-clinical settings
• For the latest City of York Council updates on Coronavirus click here.
• The Department of Health and Social Care Twitter page is updated daily at 2pm.
• VisitEngland is continuing to update a page on their Business Advice Hub offering advice for tourism and event businesses affected by COVID-19.
• This is a fast-moving situation and the best source of information for any visitors with individual questions or concerns is Public Health England.
• Read more on the latest business support, guidance and links to more information in relation to COVID-19 on the Make It York website
• You can find out more about our Recovery Marketing Campaign, and how to get involved here. 

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Latest Update

On 4 January 2021 the Prime Minister has announced a national lockdown and instructed people to stay at home to control the virus, protect the NHS and save lives.

The decision follows a rapid rise in infections, hospital admissions and case rates across the country, and our hospitals are now under more pressure than they have been at any other point throughout the pandemic.

People are only allowed to leave their homes for the following reasons:

• shop for basic necessities, for you or a vulnerable person.
• go to work, or provide voluntary or charitable services, if you cannot reasonably do so from home.
• exercise with your household (or support bubble) or one other person, this should be limited to once per day, and you should not travel outside your local area.
• meet your support bubble or childcare bubble where necessary, but only if you are legally permitted to form one.
• seek medical assistance or avoid injury, illness or risk of harm (including domestic abuse).
• attend education or childcare - for those eligible.

All primary schools, secondary schools and colleges will move to remote learning, except for the children of key workers and vulnerable children. Schools will be required to provide remote education for those learning at home.

Early years settings such as nurseries, alternative provision and special schools will remain open and vulnerable children and children of critical workers can continue to use registered childcare, childminders and other childcare activities.

The government is also advising the clinically extremely vulnerable to begin shielding again, and letters will be sent to individuals with advice on what this means for them.

All non-essential retail, hospitality and personal care services must close, or remain closed. Restaurants can continue delivery, takeaway or click-and-collect of food and non-alcoholic drinks, but venues will no longer be able to serve takeaway or click-and-collect alcohol.

Essential shops and garden centres can remain open. Entertainment venues and animal attractions such as zoos must close, but the outdoor areas of venues such as heritage homes and botanical gardens can remain open, to be used for exercise. Playgrounds may also remain open.

Places of worship can also remain open, but you may only visit with your household.

Indoor and outdoor sports facilities including sports courts, gyms, golf courses, swimming pools, and riding arenas must also close. Elite sport and disabled sport can continue, as can PE lessons for those children attending school.

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Funding & Business support

• Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are to receive a one-off grant worth up to £9,000, the Chancellor has announced. The new one-off grants are in addition to the existing business support, including grants worth up to £3,000 for closed businesses, and up to £2,100 per month for impacted businesses once they reopen.
• The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has now been extended until the end of April 2021 with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. Employers will need to cover National Insurance and employer pension contributions for hours not worked, this accounts for just 5% of total employment costs or £70 per employee per month. The extended CJRS will operate as the previous scheme did. Claims can be made from 8am Wednesday 11 November. The CJRS extension will be reviewed in January to examine whether the economic circumstances are improving enough for employers to be asked to increase contributions. Find out more at gov.uk
• Loan schemes application deadlines extended to 31 January 2021. The application deadlines for the following schemes have been extended until 31 January 2021:
  • Coronavirus Bounce Back Loan
  • Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan 
  • Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme
  • Coronavirus Future Fund 
• Those businesses legally required to close can claim a cash grant of up to £3,000 per month depending on the value of their business premises, the grants can be used to cover any business costs.
• Update on the deferral of VAT payments due to coronavirus (COVID-19) page, clarifying that import VAT payments are not included.