From a bingo hall perspective, all bingo halls in tier 3 areas will be forced to close for at least 14 days. More than 23 million people spread across 21 local authority areas will be in tier three. The areas placed in tier 3 today are most of the Midlands, the North East and the North West, including Manchester, as well as Kent.
Bingo halls in tier 1 and tier 2 areas can only serve alcohol with substantial meals, must provide table service only, stop taking orders at 10 pm and close at 11 pm.
So, can you play bingo outside in Tier 3?
Not that the weather would likely permit, but games of street bingo would also be ruled out as you are also not allowed to socialise in a group of more than six in most outdoor public spaces. What you need to know about Tier 3: Very High Alert ?
Will bingo halls close?
The casinos and bingo halls will remain closed until government decides it is safe for them to re-open.
On the 23rd June the Prime Minister announced that leisure businesses could reopen from the 4th July 2020, this includes bingo halls. Some big companies, including Mecca, have announced they will be reopening 36 halls on the 4th July, Buzz bingo are reopening on Monday 6th with others to follow through the month.
This of course begs the inquiry “When will bingo halls open in the UK in December?”
Bingo halls in these areas will stay closed on December 2nd and the earliest they will be allowed to open could be on the 16th of December following a scheduled government review.
What is the early closure rule for bingo halls?
For Bingo halls in areas that have been designated tier 1 and tier 2, an early closure rule is in place. The early closure rule also applies to bingo halls, casinos, and most other hospitality venues.
The next thing we wanted the answer to was: how far apart should bingo halls be set up?
While it’s currently unclear as to how bingo halls (and indeed, other businesses) will operate once they re-open, suggestions have been floating around about seating any potential players at least one metre apart. Granted, this isn’t a difficult thing to do within most bingo halls, but do players really want that sort of setup?
The early closure rule also applies to bingo halls, casinos, and most other hospitality venues. Bingo halls in tier 1 and tier 2 areas can only serve alcohol with substantial meals, must provide table service only, stop taking orders at 10 pm and close at 11 pm.
Traditional bingo halls tend to be large venues with big internal spaces, the clue is in the word ‘hall’. This will make implementing social distancing relatively easy compared to smaller premises like bookmaker shops.
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