Back in the pub

People are tentatively going out to eat and drink as hospitality venues reopen

ONE in every seven people in Britain have visited a restaurant, café, bar or pub since they reopened. Weekly surveys from the Office for National Statistics have been monitoring the public’s behaviour since the start of lockdown.

The latest figures reveal how many of us have ventured out for a drink or meal since hospitality venues were allowed to start serving again.

Hotels, pubs and restaurants in England and Scotland were able to reopen indoors from July 4, while in Wales pubs and restaurants were open again outdoors from July 13 and will reopen indoors from August 3.

The figures show that when asked between July 15 and 19, of the people who left their home for any reason (93% of adults), one in seven did so to to eat or drink at a restaurant, café, bar or pub (15%).

That’s up from 10% of those asked between July 8 and 12 - the first time these figures were published.

One in three adults (33%) said they would be comfortable or very comfortable to eat indoors at a restaurant in the week to July 15 and 19, compared with just over one in four adults (27%) the week before.

People are now just as likely to eat and drink in at a venue as they are to opt for a takeaway, with 15% of people also saying they had collected food or drink from a restaurant, café, bar or pub.

Hairdressers were also allowed to reopen from July 4 in England, July 13 in Wales and July 15 in Scotland.

The figures show that between July 15 and 19, 14% of adults who had left their home had done so to get a haircut - up from 9% the week before.

While still fairly low, these numbers may rise as the weeks wear on and people’s confidence in their safety continues to grow - although there are concerns of a second spike, which could see rules tightened once more.

Boris Johnson has played down the chances of a second national coronavirus lockdown being needed.

The Prime Minister said: “I can’t abandon that tool any more than I would abandon a nuclear deterrent. But it is like a nuclear deterrent, I certainly don’t want to use it – and nor do I think we will be in that position again.

“It’s not just that we’re getting much better at spotting the disease and isolating it locally, but we understand far more which groups it affects, how it works, how it’s transmitted – so the possibility of different types of segmentation, of enhanced shielding for particular groups, is now there.”

That was at odds with the view of the Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, however, who said: “Come winter, the challenges will be very much greater... this could also need national measures as well.”