Manchester clubbers could be asked to take a coronavirus test before entering a venue in the future as the city’s hospitality scene prepares to reopen.
Taking punters’ temperatures and the use of hand sanitiser will also play a part in the battle to keep coronavirus at bay once the lockdown measures for bars, clubs and restaurants lift on July 4.
Sacha Lord, the city’s night time economy adviser, told the Manchester Evening News that while nothing is set in stone, he hopes measures such as this will allow the city to recover from the pandemic, which has seen thousands of employees furloughed since lockdown was announced on March 23.
Sacha, who also heads up Parklife and the Warehouse Project, said: “People, especially young people, are aching to go out. We have seen illegal raves happening already. We need to plan opening clubs.
“The problem we have is, there is no guidance from the government - they are saying July 4 to open, but it takes three weeks to open a venue after you have organised staff, stock, cleaning etc. They’re cutting it all a bit fine.
“With nightclubs, there’s been discussions about an initiative where people buy tickets for an event and they get a text to confirm their entry on condition they get a Covid-19 test.
“When they get the result it pings on their phone and you show that upon entry. On top of that there will be temperature checks and hand sanitiser available.
“This could be a way to get things to recover.”
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Sacha also hopes that small changes to legislation would allow venues to open outdoor areas so that the two metre rule is possible for customers, without the current red tape attached to obtaining a licence from the council, which takes 28 days to process and can attract objections.
As no traffic zones pop up across the city, such as the section of Deansgate between King Street West and Blackfriars Street and Thomas Street in Northern Quarter, this perhaps offers breathing space for small venues needing outside overspill space.
One of the ways that Greater Manchester has been helping its hospitality sector through the crisis is through United We Stream, which supports the region's restaurants, bars, music venues and other cultural establishments that have been hit by lockdown.
Nearly £400,000 has been raised by Manchester's virtual nightlife platform.
The online programme asks people to donate and buy a ‘virtual ticket’ to the cause, with DJs, comedians and musicians entertaining the masses.
But while this has been an uplifting antidote to venue closures for people stuck at home, Sacha says that this is not the answer long term.
Sacha said: “With United We Stream, people are asking, is this the future? People watching events on Zoom?
“But that is not the answer. People complain about it when it happens but really they love going to a sweaty club or a festival and waiting hours for the toilet. It’s part of the experience.”
Elsewhere, local DJs have been helping to ease the boredom by putting on live shows on Facebook so that people can enjoy a rave in the comfort of their own homes.
Nkosi Inniss, aka DJ Coast2Coast, entertained Ancoats for weeks at the height of lockdown from a balcony in the Royal Mills building.
A DJ of 17 years, Nkosi, 34, has seen Manchester, and many other locations across the world, from all angles - intimate 100 capacity venues to the bigger arenas hosting thousands of clubbers.
His first performance, which included smoke machines and lights, was organised and live streamed by AncoatsPlus.
Nkosi said: “I can’t believe how big it became - one of the sets was watched by 65,000 people, which is more than you’d ever get in a club - it’s like playing at a football stadium.”
Despite its success, Nkosi - now a professional and experienced wedding, party and event DJ - says it is not as easy as it looks.
He explained: “With live streams people don’t realise but there are so many rules you need to follow - you can’t just wing it. A lot of planning goes into it so that Facebook is happy that I have not breached any licencing laws for example.
“I’ve been thinking about how things will change, whether to get a studio for live streams for example as this can’t be done long term from home.
“One thing I think needs to happen is for DJs to work together. If someone wants a service and it’s not quite your thing, you would say, I have the perfect person for that, and offer up an alternative contact.
“Like a ‘friendchise’ - it would work if everyone helped one another.”
Nkosi, who lives with his wife Kym and their son Kassius, explained that his rooftop raves ended following the relaxing of lockdown measures last month.
The dad-of-one has since seen a rise in the number of people congregating around the Cotton Square area.
“I felt like if I carried on doing it, I would be responsible for people congregating on the street and not social distancing,” he explained.
“If it was just the neighbours on the square it would be fine, but the area attracts a lot of visitors from elsewhere, and I don’t want to encourage that.”
Watch DJ Coast2Coast’s rooftop raves here.
