Casinos, bowling alleys, ice-rinks and leisure centres can reopen in August

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The fun starts here! Casinos, bowling alleys, ice-rinks and leisure centres can reopen in August with stadiums to follow in October – but nightclubs and soft-play areas will stay shut for now

  • Bowling, skating rinks, casinos and beauticians will be able to reopen in August 
  • Pilots to reopen sports stadiums will start with World Snooker Championship 
  • Outcry as nightclubs and soft play areas, however, will have to remain closed 

By Amie Gordon For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Casinos, sports centres and bowling alleys have been given the green light to reopen in August.  

Boris Johnson today announced his blueprint for life in the UK to return to something close to normal by Christmas as he set out major relaxations of the lockdown.  

The news comes as a shot in the arm to the leisure industry which is facing a jobs bloodbath caused by the coronavirus pandemic, warning it was ‘on its knees’ just days ago.  

From next month, wedding receptions for up to 30 people can resume, and bowling, skating rinks, casinos and beauticians can reopen as long as they have measures in place to reduce Covid-19 transmission.

Pilots to reopen sports stadiums will include the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield from July 31 and the Glorious Goodwood horse racing festival from August 1.

But the move has sparked a backlash from parents after the Prime Minister refused to reopen soft play areas.  

Prime Minister Boris Johnson today set out the next stage in his plan to return life to normal in the UK

Boris Johnson’s timetable for getting life in the UK back to normal 

Today: Rules on using public transport will be relaxed so that ‘anybody may use’ buses, tubes and trains. Public transport no longer needs to be treated as a last resort.

Tomorrow: New ‘lightning lockdown’ powers for councils will be introduced to allow them to shut public spaces and premises without consulting the Government to stop outbreaks. 

Next week: New local lockdown draft powers for ministers will be published to allow them to issue stay at home orders and travel restrictions.

August: New rules on working from home to be introduced to encourage more workers to return to their offices. Remaining leisure facilities like bowling alleys, casinos and skating rinks will be able to reopen from August 1. 

October: Stadiums could reopen to audiences for sport and music events, depending on the success of a pilot programme. 

November: All outstanding restrictions to be reviewed and eased in November at the earliest and ‘possibly in time for Christmas’. 

Nightclubs and soft play areas will have to remain closed and Mr Johnson said that the Government will try to allow more close contact between loved ones ‘when we can’.

From August 1, most remaining leisure centres will reopen and indoor performances with live audiences can resume, with trials beginning for sports stadiums to reopen from October. 

The Prime Minister used the Downing Street press conference to set out his timetable for the further easing of lockdown measures. 

He told today’s briefing: ‘We will not proceed if doing so risks a second peak that would overwhelm the NHS.

‘Nonetheless it is important to give people hope and to give business confidence, so in England from today we are making clear that anybody may use public transport while of course encouraging people to consider alternative means of transport where they are available.

‘From July 25 we have already committed to reopening indoor gyms, pools and other sports facilities.

‘From August 1 we will update our advice on going to work. Instead of government telling people to work from home, we are going to give employers more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff can work safely.

‘That could mean, of course, continuing to work from home which is one way of working safely, and which has worked for many employers and employees.

‘Or it could mean making work places safe by following Covid secure guidelines.

‘Whatever employers decide, they should consult closely with their employees and only ask people to return to their place of work if it is safe.’  

He also said restrictions on the use of public transport in England are being dropped from today with trips on the train and bus to no longer be viewed as the option of last resort. 

He said the Government will publish new guidance applying from August on working from home in the hope that more employees will physically return to their desks to give town and city centres a much needed economic boost.   

Crucially, the PM also said the Government is hoping to review all the remaining ‘outstanding restrictions’ in the coming months in order to allow a ‘more significant return to normality from November’ and ‘possibly in time for Christmas’.

However, Mr Johnson insisted that all of the proposed changes would only go ahead if the spread of coronavirus continues to fall and that ‘we will not hesitate at any stage to put on the brakes’ if there is an increase in infections. 

The PM also said the Government was targeting the reopening of stadiums in the autumn with audiences potentially returning to football matches and outdoor gigs in October. 

He said: ‘We will restart indoor performances to a live audience, subject to the success of pilots and we will also pilot larger gatherings in venues like sports stadia with a view to a wider reopening in the autumn.’

He added: ‘From October we intend to bring back audiences in stadia and to allow conferences and other business events to recommence.

‘Again these changes must be done in a Covid secure way subject to the successful outcome of pilots.’