Funeral Industry News

COVID-19: Update to protective measures and upcoming regulatory changes

December 22, 2021 by funeral-industry-news No Comments | Category COVID-19, Guidance

On 21 December, as a consequence of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, the First Minister set out new protective measures.  These measures are considered necessary to help stem the increase in cases of COVID-19, safeguard health and protect the NHS, the emergency services and the economy while the booster programme is completed and takes full effect.

The First Minister’s statement of 21 December is available to read here.

The changes that will be brought in from 26 December placing limits on the size of live public events for a period of three weeks do not apply to life events such as funeral services or post-funeral gatherings.

Similarly, the protections being introduced in hospitality and leisure settings from the 27 December do not apply to funerals or post-funeral gatherings.

Further information about the new measures can be found here.

However, there continues to be a risk of transmission of COVID-19 wherever families and communities come together.  Those attending funerals and the related gatherings should continue to do all they can to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19 by following all other baseline measures such as complying with the requirement to wear face coverings unless exempt, practicing good hand hygiene, taking lateral flow tests before attending the funeral and maintaining physical distancing where they can.

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