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Everything is continuing as normal here at West End on the Thames, but with the following precautions in place due to coronavirus.

What is coronavirus?

The coronavirus is a virus that causes COVID-19 and affects the lungs and airways. The main symptoms are a fever and a continuous dry cough.

It is not known exactly how coronavirus spreads from person to person, but similar viruses are spread in cough droplets.

Context:

Cases of infection and death rates are very low in the UK and deaths are linked to individuals suffering from underlying health issues. However, it is widely expected that this situation will worsen.

Employees at West End on the Thames:

West End on the Thames takes the health and safety of its clients, staff and partners very seriously. In addition to our existing health and safety and hygiene practices, we are following updated advice from the UK Government and Public Health England.

If staff develop symptoms of a cough, fever, or shortness of breath, they are required to immediately stay indoors and avoid contact with other people. They should also call and take advice from NHS 111. Any employees with cold-like symptoms are also advised to call 111 and stay away from work until they are symptom free.

Clients:

Please be advised that West End on the Thames is operating as normal and no staff members are known to be suffering from the virus.

If anyone present becomes ill on board a vessel, they will be moved to a designated isolation area while medical authorities are contacted. They will then be safely removed from the boat. The safety of our clients is our top priority and they will be kept updated with developments. Certificated, deep cleaners are on standby for specialist sanitising of all venues, should this be required.

Any clients should take whatever precautions they want. Therefore, any new events confirmed with us between the start of February 2020 to the end of July 2020 qualify for our free date move guarantee. If you wish to change the date of your event, then it can be altered subject to the new date being available. Please speak to a member of our team for more information.

Precautions:

Clients should be advised that since early February, we have been taking the following precautions:

• Vessels - Sanitisers are available, which people are encouraged to use when they enter
• “Catch it, Bin it, Kill it” - Signs have been put up all around the venues, which emphasise the importance of people washing their hands regularly
• Cleaning Schedule - On top of our already diligent cleaning schedule, extra precautions have been put in place to regularly clean high volume touch points. This includes door handles, push plates and stair rails

Potentially infected individuals are advised to immediately self-isolate themselves and call NHS 111.

Other precautions:

• Wash hands immediately upon arrival and at least every two hours
• Use hand sanitisers regularly
• Keep hands away from faces, particularly eyes and nose.

Routes of Transmission:

Direct contact to eyes and nose from droplets from an infected person onto another person.

Contamination via droplets from sneezing and coughing, landing on surfaces and then transferring via hands on to eyes and nose.

Contamination to hands from sneezing or coughing and then transferred to others by their hands.

West End on the Thames are following the guidelines issued by Public Health England, which can be found here.