Pubs, cafes and restaurants in Oxfordshire can now open for customers seated outdoors.

Many restaurants have taken lots of bookings and pubs are ready to reopen and serve customers outside.

Read again: Oxfordshire pubs welcome back punters

But drinkers and diners might need a quick refresher on what new rules apply.

How many people can I meet outside?

Restrictions have changed since pubs were last open. People don't need to order a substantial meal with alcoholic drinks - and there'll be no 22:00 curfew.

Oxford Mail:

But there are still Covid-19 secure measures in place:

  • Customers must order, eat and drink while seated at a table
  • You must follow either the rule of six, or be in a a group of any size with no more than two households present
  • Every customer aged 16 and over will have to check in to NHS test and trace, or give contact details to staff
  • When not seated - for example being shown to a table, or going to the toilet - customers should wear face masks (unless exempt) and observe social distancing

How should venues keep people safe?

Although a curfew no longer applies, venues still have to follow the existing rules on opening hours in their licences.

Oxford Mail:

To stop the spread of Covid-19, guidance for hospitality venues says they should:

  • Use social distancing markings
  • Provide disposable sauce sachets
  • Install plastic screens between tables or at tills
  • Encourage contactless payments

At venues serving alcohol, payment should be taken at tables outdoors.

Oxford Mail: Enjoying a drink on the rooftop terrace at Westgate

At those not serving alcohol, customers can order and collect food and drinks from a counter but must eat outside.

Venues can put up outdoor shelters, gazebos or marquees.

These can have a roof, but need to have at least 50 per cent of the area of their walls open.

Read again: The Oxford roads turning into beer gardens

Pubs which show sport can use screens outside for matches, as long as drinkers stay seated and volume is kept low.

Oxford Mail:

Venues must not, however, provide smoking equipment such as shisha pipes.

When can I eat or drink inside?

In England, it is hoped the next set of restrictions can be lifted in mid-May - if the goals for eaasing lockdown are being met.

  • May 17: Customers can eat and drink indoors, in groups of up to six people, or two households of any size. Groups seated outside must be smaller than 30 people
  • June 21: All restrictions could be lifted, with nightclubs allowed to reopen

Will I need a vaccine passport to go to the pub?

There is currently no legal requirement for customers to prove their Covid status.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously suggested pub goers could be asked to provide a vaccine certificate, after all adults have been offered a first jab by the end of July.

Dave Richardson, from the Oxford branch of CAMRA, said: "A lot of local pubs do have outside space, and the city council has taken a positive stance by closing some streets to traffic to permit pavement seating.

Oxford Mail:

“But even those that do reopen from Monday will be unable to trade profitably, and for this they will have to wait for the May 17 reopening of indoor space or more likely for June 21, when hopefully all restrictions will end.

“It’s up to every one of us who value what pubs bring to society to support them as much as possible, despite restrictions including table service only, NHS test and trace for every customer rather than just one contact per party, and the advisability of advance booking.”