Member Update 2
Dear Member Clubs,
General questions and answers on the current situation.
With England having different rules to Wales, this is the current Welsh Assembly Government position. It is unlikely to change until a review on 1 June and more detail if you want it is on the Welsh Assembly website, I have just taken what I think is relevant or of interest. I will keep you informed of the position on re-opening boxing clubs when we know more.
Introduction
The Welsh Government is responsible for the public health response to the coronavirus in Wales. And new rules are now in force, which mean you must stay at home to save lives and protect the NHS. These rules will differ from England, so it is important you understand them.
Stay at home. Save lives. Protect the NHS.
Just to be clear, you can:
· Go out for exercise - please see below for more information on exercise.
· Travel to work, provided your place of work remains open and you cannot work from home.
· Go out to buy food, medicines, or other supplies, but you should stay at least 2m away from other people.
· Visit your GP or local health services, including the dentist.
· Provide care or help to a vulnerable person. This includes getting food and medicines for them.
However, you must not:
· Re-open the Boxing Gym, it remains on the ‘closed’ list.
· Gather in a group of more than 2 people in a public place, unless you live with them, or they are your carer.
· Travel or be outside without a reasonable excuse. A reasonable excuse includes the examples listed above.
What changes have been introduced to the regulations from 11 May 2020?
The Welsh Government has made three very small amendments to the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) Regulations 2020:
· Allowing people to exercise more than once a day but exercise must be local
· Enabling garden centres to open if they can comply with the physical distancing duty.
· Enabling local authorities to begin the process of planning how to reopen libraries and local recycling centres.
· How long will these measures stay in place?
These measures will be in place until they can be relaxed, when the risk of infection has reduced. Ministers have a duty to review these restrictions every 3 weeks.
Will gyms be opened?
Gyms (including Boxing Clubs) are not reopening yet. For the time being, they continue to advise people to exercise in their own home or outdoors.
They are lifting the previous restriction on only exercising once a day to enable everyone to exercise more frequently outdoors. But exercise must be local and should start and end at home. People should also only exercise alone or with people from their own household.
What sort of exercise can I do?
The regulations do not set out what type of exercise is allowed, but in practice the type of exercise allowed is constrained by some of the other restrictions, which have been put in place to control coronavirus.
For example, indoor swimming pools have been closed; leisure centres are closed and certain footpaths, beauty spots and parts of the countryside are closed.
The regulations also prevent unnecessary travel – one of the purposes of the restrictions is to reduce pressure on the Welsh NHS.
The laws are clear that you must exercise alone or with members of your household.
What about cycling?
Cycling is a very effective form of exercise and is a healthy and environmentally friendly way of travelling to work. Cycling is generally a low-risk activity but with emergency services under pressure, it is important to take steps to manage risk wherever possible. An accident or a breakdown far from home would place additional strain on health services or require a further journey to be made by someone else to provide assistance.
People are expected to only cycle on routes they know well and are well within their ability level. Cyclists on shared paths should be considerate of walkers, runners and other people cycling: they should stay two metres away from others, slow their pace and stop to let people pass as appropriate.
Cycling to work, or for work, is considered a reasonable excuse to be outside, if you cannot work from home.
You must cycle alone or with members of your household.
Can I drive somewhere to exercise?
In general, exercise should not involve people driving away from home to exercise. No journeys outside your local area should be taken to exercise in the countryside, at the coast or at other beauty spots, for example – many beauty spots have been closed to prevent people gathering.
However, people with specific health or mobility issues may need to travel a short distance from their home to exercise. For example, some wheelchair users may not be able to exercise immediately outside their homes for practical reasons. In such circumstances the journey should be to the nearest convenient accessible location.
The laws are clear that you must exercise alone or with members of your household.
What do we mean by local?
People should not travel a significant distance from their home to exercise.
They have deliberately not defined this more precisely as it could be seen to be arbitrary and it will also depend on the circumstances – what people perceive to be “local” in Cardiff on the one hand, and in Mid Wales on the other, could be quite different.
People are asked to exercise good judgement and common sense. If you live in Cardiff and have driven to Porthcawl to exercise on the beach, you haven’t stayed local.
Will golf courses reopen?
Golf courses are now able to open but in accordance with clear guidelines from Welsh Golf.
However, the regulations state that exercise should be done locally, which means people cannot drive to exercise outside their local area; people also cannot exercise with anyone other than a member of their own household. More than two people congregating in a public place is regarded as a gathering, which is an offence under the regulations.
Will angling be permitted?
The regulations state exercise should be done locally, which means people cannot drive to exercise outside their local area. The primary purpose for leaving home should be to exercise.
Can I play bowls?
The regulations state that exercise should be done locally, which means people cannot drive to exercise outside their local area; people also cannot exercise with anyone other than a member of their own household. More than two people congregating in a public place is regarded as a gathering, which is an offence under the regulations.
Can I do voluntary work?
Yes, you can – the new rules allow you to go out to provide care or help to a vulnerable person, including emergency help. This includes getting food and medicines for them. But it is important you do not put yourself or the person you are caring for at risk.
I need to access health services, what do I do?
You can leave your home to access local health services, but you should phone beforehand. Please follow any guidance your local surgery or health service has put in place to protect you and staff, including the need to keep 2m away from other patients waiting to see a GP or nurse. If you can rearrange your appointment, please do so, and use NHS 111 Wales online services where possible.
If you have symptoms of Coronavirus do not visit your GP, hospital or pharmacy. For more information please use the NHS 111 Wales symptom checker.
Why are garden centres being opened?
They have taken the decision to allow garden centres to reopen, if they are able to comply with the physical distancing duty. This is because they are more likely to be based outdoors and the evidence suggests the risk of spreading coronavirus is considerably less outdoors than indoors. Due to their location and size, it is also likely that people visiting garden centres will be able to maintain social distancing.
Will local parks be opened – can I go to them?
Local authorities will make decisions about whether local parks are open. They encourage people to go out to exercise, and this is one of the reasons the regulations have been amended.
Can I go for a picnic in the park?
The main purpose of the amendments to the regulations is to enable people to leave home to exercise more often. But they also consider activity, which is “incidental” to exercise, which is good for people’s health or wellbeing, to be reasonable.
For example, going for a walk and stopping to have something to eat or sit in a park, would be permitted. But most of the time away from home should be spent exercising and your purpose for leaving home should be to exercise. Leaving the house simply to have a picnic would not meet this requirement.
Any “incidental” activity is subject to the requirement not to congregate with others, and the advice on social distancing should also be followed.
Can I meet friends or family if I do it outdoors?
The overarching advice is to stay at home. You need a reasonable excuse to go out and arranging to meet friends and family is not reasonable excuse. In addition, the regulations require people not to congregate outdoors.
Will the level of fines be increased?
The coronavirus regulations include provisions for a fixed penalty notice to be issued for breaches of the regulations, carrying a fine of £60; this is increased to £120 for a second offence.
They continue to keep fines under review and, if the police believe stronger fines are needed, this will be considered.
Colin Metson
General Manager