UK music venues concerned about new COVID rules
Nightclub owners in London have criticised new restrictions to halt the spread of coronavirus variants.
The new measures, which will come into effect on Wednesday, include the need for proof of either vaccination or a negative COVID test to enter some venues.
The rules target unseated indoor gatherings of 500 people or more, unseated outdoor events with over 4,000 attendees and any events with over 10,000 people.
Kate Fuller is the owner of Electric Ballroom in north London.
"Since the announcement of the restrictions, our business just took a massive downturn, and first of all, like we can't even, there's no testing in a lot of the pharmacies, so OK, you have to have the vaccine passport and then you have a lateral flow test. But if you can't get tests, it's going to be really hard for people to come."
Others question why cultural venues are being singled out.
Clara Cullen is the venue support manager at Music Venue Trust:
"When we did this survey, we saw that there's a downturn in income and twenty seven percent already, that's just over the last week. There will be financial implications to trying to implement the Plan B as well. So that will impact venues and how they try and implement the policy, so I think the general feeling amongst the sector, it is frustration as confusion."
The measures, which included ordering people to wear masks in public places, passed on Tuesday despite strong opposition from Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservatives.
Nearly 100 Conservative MPs voted against what they called his "draconian" plans, in what was the biggest blowback Johnson has faced during his tenure.
Johnson has defended the measures as essential to combatting the spread of the Omicron variant, almost 4,500 cases of which have been reported in the UK so far.
