By Kunal Sawhney, CEO of Kalkine (www.kalkine.co.uk)
With the extant Covid-19 activity in the United Kingdom, the healthcare authorities have specifically shifted their focus on reducing the rate of hospital admissions as communities continue to struggle with the widespread transmission of the Delta variant.
It becomes very crucial for the National Health Service (NHS) to limit the number of infections, as well as the people seeking immediate medical intervention, at a time when businesses are bracing for a revenue-filled period after a disruptive stretch of more than 17 months.
The government’s recommendation of mandating the usage of Covid passports will essentially help the nation as people step out of their homes in larger numbers following the removal of the lockdown restrictions and the social distancing guidelines. However, the proposal of mandating the Covid passports have not been welcomed by the hospitality association.
Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality, has recently said that the obligatory usage of Covid passports at certain hospitality venues “will be unworkable”.The same will force the enterprises to face “complex equality rules”, effectively raising the conflict between the staff and customers, she added.
The Downing Street administration has been quite proactive in taking the necessary and preventive measures that can substantiate the overall response in battling the Covid-19 pandemic.The idea of mandating the Covid passports materially lines under the same belief, a plan of action that is highly likely to help the authorities to reduce the possibilities of transmission as the Delta variant and its sub-lineages are affecting the double-jabbed communities.
Critically speaking, Covid passports may hamper the so-called smooth functioning of the businesses as there will be an added step before welcoming the customers at various hospitality venues, including the outdoor and indoor settings. Moreover, the enterprises might have to ask certain employees to go under quarantine or seek medical help if they are unable to produce Covid passports.
At the end of the day, there will be a consequential impact on the hospitality industry, when the corporations are already struggling with the ongoing staff shortages and the resultant situation of inadequate supply chain systems.There could be a possibility that some small-scale enterprises may have to shelve the majority of their operations for a certain period of time due to unavailability of human power.
Nonetheless, the overall impact on the hospitality industry will be transient as the healthcare department rigorously progresses to immunise all the individuals above the age of 16 years.The Covid passports will certainly help the individuals to roam more freely by furnishing their vaccination status wherever required.
These passports are expected to help the people while travelling overseas as all the countries across the world have introduced stern guidelines for the people arriving from other nations as some could be potential carriers of new strains.This will also bring a considerable amount of confidence among the individuals visiting the hospitality settings, as well as people working inside the venues as they will remain ascertained about the personal well being and safety.
