Nightclub rules: Your questions answered

Do I have to book to go clubbing? But I can’t go to more than one a night? Can we dance? We clear up the confusion around Nightclubs reopening.

SA Health is now considering special management plans that would allow nightclubs to reopen and patrons to dance and drink for the first time since March 23.

But there is a big catch, they have to have detailed COVID management plans which include a cap of 200 patrons with ticketed events. Already patrons and owners have expressed confusion with the plans. So we’ve asked SA Health to help answer some of the your most pressing questions.

So I have to book to go to a nightclub?

Yes, you’ll have to pre-book and buy a ticket. There will be no door sales and no entry without having pre-booked. A key driver for this approach is to limit the amount of queuing on the street in front of venues.

Can I book for a group like you’d do for a table at a restaurant? Or do we have to book individually?

SA Health tells usthis detail is yet to be finalised and each nightclub will need to outline in their COVID Management Plan how they plan to manage their own bookings.

Can I book at a bunch of nightclubs for a night out?

In a nutshell no, although it’s not a legal requirement. But SA Health are saying you should not attend more than one ticketed session a night. And they have asked nightclubs to show in their COVID plans how they will be discouraging people from going to more than one nightclub a night.

What about a restaurant for dinner beforehand?

Yes you can! This concept of one venue per night relates just to visiting multiple nightclubs. A person can go out to dinner at a restaurant even if they have booked to visit a nightclub on the same night.

How will this be enforced or monitored?

Each nightclub will need to demonstrate in their COVID Management Plan how they will ensure all attendees have a pre-purchased ticket. SA Health says SAPOL will then determine how enforcement will be undertaken.

But I can dance and drink while standing though?

IYou can stand up and drink while social distancing, and dancing is also permitted – mosh pits are not allowed. Nightclubs will need to advise within the COVID Management Plan how this will be managed.

Dancing could soon be back on the nightclub floor.

Before nightclubs reopen, will they need a detailed management plan signed off and approved by SA Health?

Yes, if you wish to reopen you must submit your COVID Management Plan to [e-mail] details how you will adhere to the new rules, including:

A cap of 200 patrons, while complying with the 1 person per 2sqm rule.

Pre-purchased ticketed entry only. No door sales.

One ticketed session per night.

No more than 50 per cent capacity.

Contact tracing through ticketing process AND QR code checkins.

Minimum one dedicated COVID Marshal in addition to standard security staff

Toilets, bars and high touch areas to be cleaned every hour

A thorough clean up after every event with detergent and disinfectant.

A COVID Management Plan is a unique and comprehensive plan that must be specific to each venue or activity. The plan for each nightclub, which is a high-risk activity, will set out how that business will be managed to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 between patrons/attendees and staff.

Will QR codes be mandatory for nightclubs?

Yes. Nightclubs will need to maintain contact tracing details through ticketing process and all staff, contractors and patrons will be required to check-in through approved QR code system

Will it be mandatory for patrons to check-in?

Yes

How will nightclub owners stop people from attending more than one venue? How will this actually be enforced?

Nightclubs will need to demonstrate in their COVID Management Plan how they are discouraging patrons from attending multiple venues on the same night. SAPOL will determine how enforcement will be undertaken.

But Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said yesterday “I think it’s fair to say COVID-19 has virtually been eliminated from within the community of Australia.”, so why such tight restrictions on our nightclubs?

SA Health in a statement to us today said: “Restrictions are currently in place for different Public Activities dependant on the level risk of potential transmission. We still cannot become complacent as there is always the risk of reintroduction of the virus into the state.”