Could we have done better to reduce COVID-19

The world we live in now is very much different to what we all were experiencing at the beginning of 2020. Many of us were hopeful to make this year even better than the last and I believe people were hoping for better things in life andwanting progress in life.

Unfortunately, this devastating virus has turned our world into a void. which no one could have forecast. Many probably still don’t have a clear idea how to handle the situation of COVID-19 or CORONA     VIRUS medically, mentally or physically!

What I have set out below is my thoughts on what could have been done to assist in the combat of such a destructive pandemic 

We went from: -

1)    January/February: China under lockdown 

2)    February 1st: Spain confirms its first Case of Corona virus

3)    February 19th:  621 People infected on Diamond Princess cruise ships 

4)    February 23rd:  Italy a major surge in cases

5)    March 11th:  USA blocks travel from European countries (except UK) as WHO declares the virus a pandemic and the stock market’s plunge    

6)    March 13th: for a while Most UK major Sporting events postponed 

7)    March 20th: UK government orders all pubs, restaurants, gyms and other social venues across the country to close and the government announces it will pay up to 80% of wages 

8)    Many Countries globally were now in lockdown      

9)    May: UK continued lockdown throughout the month, at the end of May global death toll hit 350000

10) June: For a while Things calm in the UK, opening only certain venues     

11) June 17th:  Sport kick started behind closed doors in the UK

12) June 23rd: UK announced pubs, hotels and restaurants to re-open on the 4th July 

Now we are in October with a second lock down for the Virus although vaccines are on the way! 

JULY 4TH “Reopening of social Venues in the U.K.”

I feel this is where all went wrong! Not because of the reopening but the “Planning & Structure” that was put into place as well as the way it was implemented. 

I believe that in this area we didn’t do enough to ensure the opening of public places was safeguarded and structured. We went into this project with the idea that all we had to do was manage the social gatherings by numbers set by the government and the protocols put in place. 

·      Wash hands: keep washing your hands regularly

·      Cover face: wear a face covering in enclosed spaces

·      Make space: stay at least 2 meters apart - or 1 meter with a face covering or other precautions

“They made A mistake”!

WHY YOU MAY ASK

 We re-opened with social distancing, sanitizer sprays, clean and wipe down, facial masks etc. 

“Who was monitoring all these regulations and what were the guidelines”?

That’s my point, there was no set establishment or task force that was in charge of following through with implementing the COVID policies set up by the government!

“It’s a pandemic”! People were left to their own devices to implement to bring order and control to the country.

This is very strange when you have a 1st world country that adhere keenly when it comes to rules and regulations when setting up a business, especially in the Hospitality Industry, there is a private company HSE which has an annual budget of ￡330m, of which ￡230m comes from central government although around 30 per cent of income comes from charges to industry for high hazard regulation and scientific research. In addition to the contribution from government, the HSE raises income through charging.

You would think that with a Pandemic as volatile as the one we are currently in that the government would look to set up a structure as stringent as applying for a license to operate in the Service sector which is clearly seen below: 

(“the volume of content below is minimized as it is extensive”)

In the UK hotels, restaurants, cafés and any other social outlets that sell food and drink have to make sure they have the correct licenses required before they can commence business.

Opening a restaurant, café or bar there are two licenses required; these are necessary for any business that sells food;

1)    You need to apply for a food business registration license which covers any ‘food operations’, which includes the sale or preparation of food, cooking, storing, preparing and distributing food. You must register every premise where you carry out these tasks, including your home, any mobile premises including vans, also market stalls.

2)    You also need to get food premises approval from your local council, if your business will be handling meat, fish, eggs or dairy products.

You will need to apply for both the registration and approval at least 28 days before you open for business or you could face up to two years in prison. It’s also worth noting that there are different regulations depending on where you are in the UK, so check out the specific criteria for food premises approval for your area.

●      License to Sell Alcohol

●      Events Licensing

●      Additional Licensing

●      Regulations for UK Restaurants

You and your staff will need to prove that you’re aware of proper food hygiene and health and safety regulations, so make sure you’re properly certified and display food hygiene certificates clearly. If you fail to do so, you could find yourself in trouble with Environmental Health officers and even have your business closed down permanently. Check out the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website for a full breakdown of everything you’ll need to comply with once your restaurant is in business.

You’ll also need to comply with pest control regulations as set out in The Food Safety Regulations, and ensure you have Public Liability Insurance and other appropriate insurance policies to cover your business in the event of accidents, damage or theft.

Sophie Cole, Point Franchise ?

“There are many levels you have just to begin operating and this is only the tip of the iceberg!”

But how does this relate to COVID-19 

Firstly, look at the protocols that you have to face to start up an organization? Now imagine creating this to reopen after the pandemic  

I ask you “if we have to go through this much RED TAPE to open a business why didn’t we do this to re-open businesses during a pandemic”

This should have been a necessary and imperative “new beginning” era of legislation for COVID 19, unchartered waters require new rules. If you think about it, it’s logical. We have all gone through this period where businesses are shut down, people are losing income, jobs are lost, the government is spending billions through furlough, but now we have to get on with our lives. In order to get on with our lives we should have had a system put in place and not just a basic “WASH HANDS, COVER FACE, MAKE SPACE” slogan.

“To survive in this day and age you need to earn a living, and in order to make a living you need to work”

BUT – PUT THE EMPHASIS ON THE OWNER OF THE ESTABLISHMENT TO MAKE IT SAFE TO LET A BUSINESS RE-OPEN

People, in theory, react to and follow a leader (although there are those who rebel) 

Make the Hospitality Industry the leader and set the standards bar high for businesses to operate. By doing this, if a person wants to earn a living and keep surviving he will have to change his way of operating. If they change his way of operating then he is also committing the guest to adapt their ways of behavior for enjoyment – it is twofold.

THE GUIDELINES

Guidelines have to be rigid and tough. There is a basic entry point and it will not be easy! Re-opening should be established in a similar format as setting up a business - only this would assist in controlling people socializing in the hospitality venues. 

THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS

●      Creates more employment for the Government sector, by adding employees to the HSE sector in monitoring, administering, advising venues, also issuing fines to owners of the businesses

●      Brings a unit together to help improve the health and safety of the country 

●      Improves the infrastructure of the country 

●      Advances the levels of business in the country

●      Creates opportunities for other business other than governmental

●      Generates additional revenue for the country 

o   Not just in the sector but also through business ties!

●      Builds stability, confidence and structure in the eyes of the fearing people 

HOW IS IT SET UP?

With the government already funding the HSE who do the inspection of Hygiene, Health, Safety & Structure etc. Tasked with the job of physically inspecting and reviewing all premises, (based on the guidelines set by the government board that enables the social venues to operate).  

The current HSE would expand their operation to incorporate the review of premises making sure they are up to standard and following the regulations set up to operate effectively to reduce the spread of the virus. 

Once the government sector and civil servant teams are trained and set up they meet with respective social outlets, venues and destinations etc. 

1. They go over the protocols, distancing, seating, sanitizing etc. Which you will agree to work towards! 
2. Agree on a time and date for final inspection to be ready to operate. 
3. Once the standards are met and confirmed, you can open and the inspector will return to see the operation working, to ensure all agreements are being adhered to.

HOW IS IT MONITORED

A 5 LEVEL SYSTEM 

Level 1 – You and your operation have no issues, the business is conforming to procedures that you agreed to in the meeting. (GREEN CARD)

Level 2 – You and your operation are deviating from what was agreed on and not following the protocol/procedures. – A Caution from the board, with advice on what has to improve in order to be green again. 

Level 3 – You and your business are not conforming to protocol and procedures (for the 2nd time) 

  1)      The 1st Caution is not rectified, so the level of alert/safety has increased. (YELLOW CARD) 

  2)      This is your first offence but the deviation is too severe to merit just a caution warning and you will be more stringently monitored now, the business is flagged with a (YELLOW CARD) showing you are deviating and close to a fine 

Level 4 – you and your business have been given the AMBER CARD

1)     This is the first warning but there are too many infringements, a Fine issued based on the level/number of infringements, then you will have x amount of days to pay, no appeal is allowed.

2)     You have already had a caution and Yellow Card and as you have not shown any levels of improvement you will be fined, raised to AMBER and monitored closely 

3)     You have had a caution and the level of improvement is non-existent or not forthcoming so you have been raisedto Amber level with an immediate fine

FINES – are developed by the Government and are non-negotiable 

WHY AMBER - because this business area is now a high-risk zone you will be assessed again in x amount of days and if there is no improvement you will be raised to a Red card which is immediate closure

Level 5 – You and your operation have received an instant or an accumulated red card - Immediate closure

WHAT WARRANTS A RED CARD 

●      You have no protection for public safety in place!

●      You are a threat to productivity and a risk for all! 

●      The venue is a potential hotspot for Virus breeding and mutation 

●      Unfit to operate the premises 

●      A clear hazard 

Cont./.

With the issuance of a RED CARD the owners will be brought up before a Review Panel, from here you will get your fine/s

●      Business will be closed until the panel has inspected the premises

●      A Monetary Fine imposed 

●      Business will be categorized as Hazardous, until deemed fit 

●      Once all the refurbishment is finished and confirmed you will be inspected and assessed 

“As this is a person’s livelihood the panel has 7 days to give their ruling because it is unfair to the business owner to stall him from improving and generating income”

If you are to re-open you will be closely monitored to make sure standards are met, failure to do so can result in loss of license and closure of business until you have reclaimed your license and been through re-training. 

The Inspectors will make spot checks to any premises without notice or if he/she has been informed of malpractice.

For a project like this to survive you will need to generate revenue and this might not generate the revenue to survive? Correct! as people will want to stay on the straight and narrow to avoid these fines! 

The whole point is more about ensuring people have livelihoods to survive on, it is not about making the money from you to survive it is making the concept for survival itself, because at the moment businesses are closing left, right and center, the average pub, eatery or café is not able to operate due to the misgivings of a few!

Any person who has a service business operating will in their right mind would want to be 100% legitimate so that they can operate effective and efficiently to earn an income. But without a set of standards governing this and a group of people dedicated to the survival of the service industry then there is high chance of a downfall!

THE POTENTIAL OUTCOME

Even though this is a basic outlay of a system, installing this gives many layers of possibilities, objectives and opportunities for future use.

●      A chance for people to earn a living with guidelines and safety measures 

●      For a level of normality to resume and a clear understanding of protocols

●      New opportunities and work potential 

●      Guidelines for future catastrophes 

●      Business and life to be rebooted 

RESPONSIBILITIES

This puts the owners in A situation that they have to adhere/conform to these levels in order to continue business by following protocol. Following this set protocol allows the venues to open and the clients are kept safe enjoying the social life.

We need to open avenues where the Service & Hospitality Industry assists the government by self-administration instead of being heavily controlled from forces that do not have the capacity to control or the knowledge to operate in a manner that 

This gives the civil servants work by being vigilant, controlling and issuing fines. The issuing of fines leads to a small portion of revenue going back to the government to regenerate the money they have outlaid for furloughed workers 

The system would not just be a ‘one-off’ system for this Virus it could be an ongoing system and evolved over the years to react to future threats similar to what we are now facing. It could be integrated into the current regulations and brought into effect when (God forbid) a disaster like this happens again

It puts the power in the hands of the business owners to create a “HERD COMMUNITY” in the population, not a herd community to contract and wipe out the virus, but a community to beat the virus through responsibility, where they have to follow the rules put in place because the livelihood of the business owner is at stake!

CONCLUSION

Throughout life in the industry people have had to adapt to enjoy. At the moment, we are trying to force public into something they are unsure of or not being clear with information which leads to confusion and distress, but by putting policies in place you are enabling them to enjoy life knowing a proper regulated process is active.

The key to this is that people in the service business need customers to generate revenue and to enable people to have a social life. For people to be able to have a social life they need to feel safe and comfortable in the environment they socialize, so in order to venture into the social world the hospitality industry and service sector need new and advanced protocols to be created to ensure the survival of the industry.  

Governments would be advised to set up a project which helps the industry as well as being the police of the industry so that the public can return to their daily lives. 

Businesses need to take more responsibility of their venues and enforcing strict rules, with the businesses conforming to this you are now molding the everyday people to conform to these standards in order to enjoy a similar life as you used to know, as it will never be the same!

In order to combat a situation like we are in at the moment, a more in-depth operation should have been created and implemented to try and assist all!

Not enough controls and regulations have been brought into operation to assist the industry to operate in a safe manner.

This is a simple explanation of what COULD have been installed, I am sure a much more comprehensive set of rules would have been devised and put into operation

You are now creating a civilized change with an Evolving Project and creating TRUST