Coronavirus (COVID-19) along the River Thames – latest information and advice

Know Before you Go

It is not possible to keep information on the website up-to-date at this time. Please check on businesses own websites.

Guidance on Chrsistmas restrictions

The latest guidance on forming Christmas bubbles with friends and family has been released. Different locations along the Thames are in different tiers. Please check which tier a destination is in before you travel.

Tier 4

If you live in a Tier 4 area, you must follow the rules here. This means that you cannot leave or be outside of the place you are living unless you have a reasonable excuse. You cannot meet other people indoors, including over the Christmas and New Year period, unless you live with them, or they are part of your support bubble. Outdoors, you can only meet one person from another household. These rules will not be relaxed for Christmas for Tier 4 – you cannot form a Christmas bubble in Tier 4.

Tier 3

• keep your Christmas bubble as small as possible. Two other households is a maximum, not a target
• do not join a Christmas bubble with anyone from a Tier 4 area
• stop all unnecessary social contact outside your immediate household as soon as possible and for at least five days before you meet other households in your bubble
• only meet your Christmas bubble in private homes or in your garden, places of worship, or public outdoor spaces
• only see your bubble on Christmas Day. Do not stay overnight and keep your visits as short as possible
• stay local where possible. Avoid travelling from a high prevalence to a low prevalence area
• only meet people who are not in your Christmas bubble outside your home according to the rules in the tier you live in (unless coming from a lower to a higher tier) and do not meet socially with friends and family that you do not live with in your home or garden unless they are part of your Christmas bubble

When seeing your Christmas bubble, you should keep taking steps to reduce the spread of the virus. This includes meeting outdoors where possible, ensuring indoor spaces get as much fresh air as possible, making space between members of different households wherever you can, washing your hands regularly and for 20 seconds, and following rules on self-isolation if you develop symptoms or test positive for coronavirus.

You must not visit another household if you, or anyone in your household, is feeling unwell or self-isolating. You should get a free NHS test if you have symptoms, have been asked to by your local council or your hospital, or are taking part in a government pilot project.

Latest guidance on local restrictions

On Thursday 26 November, the Health Secretary gave a statement to the House of Commons regarding the Government’s Covid-19 Winter Plan. The statement confirmed that from Wednesday 2 November, Greater Manchester will move back into a tier three “very high level” restrictions.   

The official government guidance for each restriction level has been published and the main points regarding tier three are listed below. 

• People must not meet socially indoors or in most outdoor places with anybody they do not live with, or who is not in their support bubble, this includes in any private garden or at most outdoor venues. 
• People must not socialise in a group of more than six in some other outdoor public spaces, including parks, beaches, countryside accessible to the public, a public garden, grounds of a heritage site or castle, or a sports facility – this is called the ‘rule of six’.  
• Hospitality settings, such as bars (including shisha venues), pubs, cafes and restaurants are closed – they are permitted to continue sales by takeaway, click-and-collect, drive-through or delivery services. 
• Accommodation such as hotels, B&Bs, campsites, and guest houses must close. There are several exemptions, such as for those who use these venues as their main residence, and those requiring the venues where it is reasonably necessary for work or education and training. 
• Indoor entertainment and tourist venues must close. This includes: 
  • play centres and areas, cinemas, theatres and concert halls, trampolining parks,soft play, casinos, bingo halls, bowling alleys, skating rinks, amusement arcades, adult gaming centres, laser quests and escape rooms, and snooker halls. 
• Indoor attractions at mostly outdoor entertainment venues must also close (although indoor shops, through-ways and public toilets at such attractions can remain open). This includes indoor attractions within:
  • zoos, safari parks, and wildlife reserves, aquariums, visitor attractions at farms, and other animal attractions, model villages, museums, galleries and sculpture parks, botanical gardens, biomes or greenhouses, theme parks, circuses, fairgrounds and funfairs, visitor attractions at film studios, heritage sites such as castles and stately homes, landmarks including observation decks and viewing platforms. 
• Leisure and sports facilities may continue to stay open, but group exercise classes (including fitness and dance) should not go ahead. Saunas and steam rooms should close. 
• There should be no public attendance at spectator sport or indoor performances and large business events should not be taking place. Elite sport events may continue to take place without spectators. 
• Large outdoor events (performances and shows) should not take place, with the exception of drive-in events. 
• Weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on the number of attendees – 15 people can attend wedding ceremonies, wedding receptions are not allowed, 30 people can attend funeral ceremonies, 15 people can attend linked commemorative events. 
• Organised outdoor sport, and physical activity and exercise classes can continue, however higher-risk contact activity should not take place. 
• Organised indoor sport, physical activity and exercise classes cannot take place indoors. There are exceptions for indoor disability sport, sport for educational purposes and supervised sport and physical activity for under-18s 
• People can continue to travel to venues or amenities which are open, but should aim to reduce the number of journeys they make where possible. 
• Travel to other parts of the UK, including for overnight stays should be avoided, other than where necessary, such as for work, education, youth services, to receive medical treatment, or because of caring responsibilities. Travel through other areas as part of a longer journey is permitted. 
• For international travel see the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office travel advice for your destination and the travel corridors list 

The situation can change at any point. We therefore ask that you familiarise yourself with the information on our Know Before You Go page which is updated regularly so that both businesses and consumers have a one-stop resource for planning visits in and around Greater Manchester.’

The NHS COVID-19 App

The NHS COVID-19 app is part of the Government's large scale coronavirus (COVID-19) testing and contact tracing programme called the NHS Test and Trace service in England and the NHS Wales Test, Trace, Protect service in Wales. The app will be used, alongside traditional contact tracing, to notify users if they come into contact with someone who later tests positive for coronavirus.

The app allows people to report symptoms, order a coronavirus test, check in to venues by scanning a QR code and it helps the NHS trace individuals that may have coronavirus.

The app will help the NHS understand if the virus is spreading in a particular area, and so local authorities can respond quickly to stop it spreading further and save lives. The app does this while protecting a user’s anonymity. Nobody, including the government, will know who or where a particular user is.