Mass gatherings banned - UK

[DettolsYourFriend]

 Coronavirus: Mass gatherings to be banned under government plans to combat COVID-19 spread news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-mass-gatherings-to-be-banned-under-government-plans-to-combat-covid-19-spread-11957350

I'm pleased at this, if true. Takes a lot out of our hands with regards to deciding and hopefully refunds etc.

Interesting that they have waited until 3 days of the most lucrative racing at Cheltenham have finished. Suspect not wanting to upset their posh pals.

Yeah, money definitely talks

That’s good.

Not surprised, company's are already taking the cancellation of things into their own hands anyway..thinking sport etc so this make absolute sense.
I think we will be closing schools and university's shortly.

Do 1100 children in a secondary school count as a mass gathering?

So what is classed as a mass gathering?

They aren't say what constitutes a mass gathering yet, but will publish the guidelines "next week"

I hope by that they mean Monday at the latest as there isn't time to fanny about!

From the news article:

"The Whitehall source said the government, in dealing with coronavirus, has been "concerned" about the burden that large events put on public services including the NHS and police.
The source added: "We have drafted emergency legislation to give the government the powers it needs to deal with coronavirus, including powers to stop mass gatherings and compensate organisations. We will publish this legislation next week."

Probably:
Concerts with an audience over 500
Large Theatres
Large conferences - like the 1000+ Headteacher conference today
Festivals

Not sure what else it would include now football and rugby matches have been cancelled.

I do think if parents start keeping children at home, they will close schools.

@lulujakey1 as someone who lives in Cheltenham, i can tell you that the majority of people who go to the races are not posh at all.

But yeah, was not impressed they didnt cancel.

Church services in Ireland have been cancelled where there are more than 100 in the congregation.

Do we think it will close theme parks and the like? Dd is supposed to be going to Legoland with guides next week.

I don't think schools should close completely. They should remain open for the children of health workers and the most vulnerable children on FSMs.

Someone But it is their posh friends who own the horses, racing stables, racecourse etc and take the profits.

asking for a reason:does that mean garden shows & their ilk will not be on?

School and group trips will be cancelled as what would happen if a group leader or even one of the children got ill during the trip? Even if it was just a cold, you couldn't risk it. It's just not a safe thing to do at the moment.

Oh, that’s interesting.

There’s 650 in parliament...

I hope it's before Thursday as it means I'll hopefully get refund on theatre tickets since I'm unable (and unwilling at this point) to travel to London. Denmark being on lockdown with closed borders and all.

@fedup21 - exceptions?

Do the 500 children moving up and down the staircase in my block at school between lessons count as a mass gathering?

I think schools should stay open for years 11 and 13s if at all possible.

There was at least one country which had different numbers for outdoor and indoor events. Anyone seen anything which hints at what the UK thresholds would be?

Scotland is muttering about 500, but not clear if indoor/outdoor/either

People are already taking their own action.
Two huge scout and Guide international jamborees with 1000's of participants- Essex jamboree and Wings (held in Windsor great park) have just been cancelled.

Scotland is muttering about 500, but not clear if indoor/outdoor/either

The reason given for Scotland stopping events over 500 people is so police and ambulances are not required to be in attendance. I would think whether its indoor or outdoor makes no difference to that requirement.

As a health worker I do not want my child to have to go to school when nobody else is there.