We know so many of our BID area hospitality businesses have all worked hard to reassure customers that they can come back and enjoy their favourite meals and drinks safely. This also means collecting data to trace the spread of the virus.
From Friday 18 September, it will be mandatory for businesses to have a system to collect NHS Test and Trace data, which must be kept for 21 days.
The government is launching an NHS Test & Trace app for the public to download and use from 24 September. Businesses across England and Wales are being urged to ensure they have NHS QR code posters visible on entry so customers who have downloaded the new NHS COVID-19 app can use their smartphones to easily check-in.
Businesses included:
- hospitality, including pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés
- tourism and leisure, including hotels, museums, cinemas, zoos and theme parks
- close contact services, including hairdressers, barbershops and tailors
- facilities provided by local authorities, including town halls and civic centres for events, community centres, libraries and children’s centres
- places of worship, including use for events and other community activities
The guidance does not apply where services are taken off site immediately, for example, a food or drink outlet which only provides takeaways. If a business offers a mixture of a sit-in and takeaway service, contact information only needs to be collected for customers who are dining in.
Information to be collected:
- Staff
- the names of staff who work at the premises
- a contact phone number for each member of staff
- the dates and times that staff are at work
- Customers and visitors
- the name of the customer or visitor. If there is more than one person, then you can record the name of the ‘lead member’ of the group and the number of people in the group
- a contact phone number for each customer or visitor, or for the lead member of a group of people
- date of visit, arrival time and, where possible, departure time
- if a customer will interact with only one member of staff (e.g. a hairdresser), the name of the assigned staff member should be recorded alongside the name of the customer
The full guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/maintaining-records-of-staff-customers-and-visitors-to-support-nhs-test-and-trace
If a customer has not downloaded the app, their details must still be recorded. You can sign up to the evepass.app for free, to make contactless registration fuss-free.
