On July 4, after more than three months of closure, pubs in the United Kingdom will be allowed to reopen for limited service. Pubs won’t look like they usually do, however. New guidelines will require pubs to collect the names and contact details of everyone who enters for the purpose of contact tracing.
In an address to the House of Commons on June 24, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, “I can tell the House [of Commons] that we will also reopen restaurants and pubs. All hospitality indoors will be limited to table service, and our guidance will encourage minimal staff and customer contact. We will ask businesses to help [the national healthcare system’s] NHS Test and Trace respond to any local outbreak by collecting contact details from customers as happens in other countries, and we will work with the sector to make this manageable.”
