Covid-19 Lockdown 3.0
As of 00.01 on Wednesday 6th Jan (thats Wednesday morning) the country will go back into Lockdown 3.0 due to the new stain of SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.
In a briefing on Monday 4th January 2021 at 8pm, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the 3rd Lockdown 3.0.
The first started at the end of March 2020 and the second was in November 2020.
The new measures will include restrictions on movement and social activities, more information can be found here www.gov.uk/coronavirus
ENGLAND & NI, Guidance for England Guidance for Northern Ireland
Work can continue in accordance with Safe Operating Procedures (SOP).
SCOTLAND, Guidance for Scotland
Urgent and essential Work can continue with Safe Operating Procedures (SOP)
WALES, Guidance for Wales
Work can continue in accordance Safe Operating Procedures (SOP).
The main points that we as appliance engineers need to be aware of for the England are: (updated 4th January 2021)
1. Travel,
During the Lockdown 3.0, you must not leave your home unless you have a reasonable excuse (for example, for work or education purposes). If you need to travel you should stay local – meaning avoiding travelling outside of your village, town or the part of a city where you live – and look to reduce the number of journeys you make overall.
You can leave your home and area for work, where you cannot reasonably work from home.
You are allowed to stay overnight away from your home if you require accommodation for work purposes or to provide voluntary services.
2. Going to Work,
During the Lockdown 3.0 you may only leave your home for work if you cannot reasonably work from home.
Where people cannot work from home – including, but not limited to, people who work in critical national infrastructure, construction, or manufacturing – they should continue to travel to their workplace. This is essential to keeping the country operating and supporting sectors and employers.
Where it is necessary for you to work in other people’s homes – for example, for nannies, cleaners or tradespeople – you can do so.
Employers and employees should discuss their working arrangements, and employers should take every possible step to facilitate their employees working from home, including providing suitable IT and equipment to enable remote working.
3. Businesses and venues which can remain open
Businesses providing repair services may stay open, where they primarily offer repair services.
If we fall into a category where we are venerable to the effects of Covid-19 then the recommendation is that we isolate.
4. Safe Operating Procedures (SOP).
We need to continue with the measures we have all been implementing.
a. Advise customer prior to arrival that they will need to wear a mask in our presence and keep a minimum distance of 2 meters from us at all times.
b. Where possible the customer unlocks the door on our arrival and retreats to another room.
c. We sanitise our work area and any touch points before and after working.
d. Payments taken via electronic means.
e. Avoid touching our face with our hands
f. For Tier4 lockdowns, only working on essential appliances; Cooking, Laundry and Refrigeration.
g. When arriving at our base and home, make sure all risk of transferring the virus from our clothes and body is minimised as much as possible.
This link will take you to the guidance while working in other peoples homes: Guidance
5. Business Support
Coronavirus (COVID‑19) support is available to employers and the self-employed, including sole traders and limited company directors. You may be eligible for loans, tax relief and cash grants, whether your business is open or closed.
Find out what help you can get for your part of the UK here
6. Contact Information
If you need to contact HMRC regarding claiming, click here
Our Covid-19 update can be found here
