U.K. reintroduces masks, vaccine requirements for concert venues

As the U.K. gets hammered once again by COVID, and as the Omicron variant continues to pose a threat, Prime Minister Boris Johnson (who isn’t having a great week) has reintroduced face mask requirements for pretty much all indoor activities. Johnson dubbed the option Plan B, which also requires concertgoers to prove their vaccination status when attending nightclubs, larger venues, and indoor venues with more than 500 people.

U.K. live music business LIVE is none too pleased with Plan B, according to their CEO Greg Parmley.

The introduction of Plan B results in an unfair double standard that allows people to go on all-day pub crawls in crowded bars without having to prove their COVID-19 status, whilst live music venues get hit with certification

After such a prolonged closure throughout the pandemic it is important the industry is able to remain open and that the government have listened to the industry and included the use of lateral flow testing in COVID certification.LIVE CEO Greg Parmley

The U.K. is averaging over 47,000 cases per day right now, though deaths are down roughly 12%.

[via Billboard]