The easing of lockdown restrictions meant a return to business for many in the hospitality sector last weekend.
However, this is not ‘business as usual’ – pubs, cafes, and restaurants are expected to operate in very different ways in order to minimise the risk of spreading infection – including the collection of data to support the NHS Test and Trace scheme.
UK Government guidelines request that businesses where customers eat and/or drink on-site must collect data that can be supplied to NHS tracers if someone on those premises is later found to have contracted Covid-19.
The purpose of collection is to alert others who might have come in contact with an infected person and therefore be at risk themselves. This does not apply to businesses that sell takeaway food or drink for off-site consumption only.
Sharron Skeen
Westwood Accountancy
