Fears passes will further weaken nightlife industry
BOSSES at nightclubs and gig venues across Wales are totally gutted that an NHS Covid Pass will be compulsory for every adult wanting to visit their premises.
The new regulations will come into force on October 11, following this week’s controversial vote in the Senedd.
Welsh Government officials insist the move is to protect the public’s heath, especially given the recent rises in Covid cases.
However, club bosses, gig venues and promoters fear the scheme will weaken an industry that has already suffered an incredibly difficult 18 months and believe they are being unfairly targeted.
Nightclubs are also angered that the Covid-19 pass requirement only applies to nightclubs and certain events.
Among those annoyed by the scheme is Rekom UK, which operates Fiction Swansea, Pryzm Cardiff and ATIK Wrexham.
A Rekom UK spokeswoman said: “We are dismayed by this decision, which is not based on any sound scientific proof that nightclubs are causing a surge in Covid-19 cases.
“In fact, current evidence shows that case rates in Wales in the 20 to 29-year-old demographic are lower than in any other demographic of people below the age of 60 and case rates for the 17 to 24 age bracket has been in steep decline for the past two weeks.
“Once again, nightclubs have been singled out from the rest of hospitality in Wales as it’s deemed the least politically damaging, despite our venues being in an extremely fragile state of recovery and many hundreds of jobs at risk across the sector.
“If the Senedd wish to make vaccine passports compulsory then do so across the board, but it’s simply unfair to do it in this manner and target young people who have already sacrificed so much in terms of their education and social freedoms.”
Rekom UK’S concerns are echoed by Bruno Nunes, chief executive of Swansea-based Creative Hospitality Group, which owns popular bars and venues such as Peppermint Bar & Kitchen and Bambu Beach Bar.
Mr Nunes admitted while he has a “great deal of sympathy for local authorities,” especially when given little notice to bring new rules and regulations into force, he worries the effect the Covid-19 passes will have on his industry.
He said: “We know vaccines don’t stop the spread, it doesn’t prevent the spread – we need to target the older age group. Politicians aren’t using our services [so they don’t see the measures we have in place already].
“The Covid-19 Pass is a punitive approach, using the nightclubs as a shock-absorber.
“Everyone is tired [after a challenging 18-months], we’ve been thrown a curve ball.”
He added that during the Covid19 lockdowns, when nightclubs and bars were closed, Covid-19 was rife in communities across Wales.
That sentiment was also echoed by Stonegate Group, which runs Slug & Lettuce in Swansea and Cardiff, Be At One Cardiff and Popworld in Swansea.
A spokesman added: “Whilst the safety and protection of our customers is paramount we have concerns that additional pressure will be put on venues to monitor and police the scheme at a time when hospitality is under huge pressure with the shortage of SIA registered teams.
“Having only just recently reopened our late-night venues the addition of any complex checking and monitoring requirements that put our teams in vulnerable or confrontational situations would not be welcome.”
For manager of community centre and independent music venue Creature Sound in Swansea, Allen Chambers, the biggest issue with the roll-out of compulsory Covid-19 passes is that the passes don’t seem to take into consideration people’s reasons for not being vaccinated, such as being medically exempt.
A relative of Mr Chambers’ has medical issues that mean they’ve been advised by doctors not to have a Covid-19 vaccination, whilst a volunteer at the venue is also unable to have a Covid-19 jab due to vaccination allergies.
With this in mind, Mr Chambers fears compulsory Covid-19 passes label people unfairly, while also taking away people’s choice to be vaccinated.
“Creature Sound is in a quandary,” Mr Chambers said. “We are concerned that the vaccine passport scheme has not laid out a path for exempt people to have an official document scheme to show they cannot have a vaccination, even though the government websites point to exemptions even with testing.
“We are concerned some people may be ousted simply by their concerns not to take a vaccine, some [concerns] of which for many people are very genuine based on both their physical and mental health.
“We believe in equality and choice. Although we are concerned about the pandemic obviously having autoimmune concerns and concerns for our community, we can also appreciate that long-term there is more data to be collected and until that data collection and analysis is complete the concerns of people should not be waived if they do decide to wait.
“We do appreciate that the vaccine lessens treatment needs and hospitalisation, improving stress on the NHS, however a vaccine mostly protects the individual from further harm and transmission, sickness and death and it’s still possible when double-vaxxed to encounter these.”
Mr Chambers added: “We do believe, as with everything in life, that any individual should have a choice when it comes to medical treatments or therapies and should not be forced to take one nor should they be excluded from activities as long as they respect others’ views and space also.
“We would not like to see a situation here in the UK such as in Italy where all workers now need a vaccine pass to even be employed.
“We have serious concerns that if that happens here we will not be able to run our own venue or we may have to turn people away that may need help or exclude them from community activities.
“The night-time industry and all of our colleagues in it have gone above and beyond to keep everyone safe. Venues are much safer than the supermarket even.”
But Welsh Government denied it was targeting club and gig venues – and insisted there was logic and science behind their approach.
“The Covid Pass will be required in any venue that is open late at night between the hours of midnight to 5am, where alcohol is being served, and music is provided for dancing,” a spokesman said.
“The venue must meet all three considerations to be captured by the requirement to operate a Covid Pass.
“However, the venue is captured by the requirement to operate the pass at all times (not only between the hours of midnight and 5am) if music is provided for dancing.
“Generally speaking, the risk of exposure in a nightclub is higher than in other premises and the scope for taking reasonable measures to reduce that risk is lower.
“This is because, by their very nature, they are not places where people socially distance and because good ventilation is more difficult to achieve. In these circumstances, it is even more important to take steps to try to prevent people who have coronavirus being present – the most effective way to do that is to require people to be vaccinated or to have taken a test before entering.”