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    22

    Sept 2020

    Last Updated: 21/09/2020
    Business
    Business

    Second lockdown would see Harrogate businesses face battle to survive, says chamber

    by Calvin Robinson

    | 22 Sept, 2020
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    Harrogate businesses would find another lockdown or further restrictions tough, says the district's Chamber of Commerce. The Prime Minister could announce further restrictions to tackle the spread of the virus today.

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    Businesses in Harrogate would face another tough battle to survive if a second national lockdown was imposed, Harrogate chamber has said.

    The government is currently considering further restrictions, which could include another lockdown, in order to halt the surge in coronavirus cases.

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to give a statement to the House of Commons at 12.30pm today where new restrictions may be announced to tackle the increase in new infections.

    Sandra Doherty, chief executive of the Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, said people need to be made to feel safe but added further measures would have an impact on businesses which are only just recovering.



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    She said:

    “Everybody’s safety comes first. But a lot of the businesses are only just creeping out of the financial criss that the last lockdown caused, especially the hospitality industry.
    “I have got friends in retail and a lot of them rely on the run-up to Christmas to keep them going.
    “It’s not just in Harrogate, it’s across the whole country and everywhere that is tourism based that would be affected."


    She added that the government’s job retention bonus scheme, which offers £1,000 for every furloughed employee who is kept on until January, may not be taken up by businesses.

    She said:

    “It’s not really the carrot and stick that you think it’s going to be.”


    Earlier today, Professor Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, and Sir Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser, warned that without further action cases could reach 50,000 per day by October.

    So far, cases since the start of the pandemic have reached a total of 926 in the Harrogate district, with 26 new infections since Friday.

    Last week, North Yorkshire declared a “major incident” amid an increase in coronavirus cases in the county.