On 9th November 2020, Pfizer pharmaceutical gave a twinkle of light at the end of the tunnel, with the announcement of a 90% successful COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine will give confidence to the nation, but the fight is far from over. Vaccinating everyone will take time and with this in mind, sports venues will need precautions to ensure their venue is kept COVID-19 secure.

The country will soon be emerging from its second lockdown, with many keen to get back playing sport, and, sports venues need to continue taking precautionary measures to help keep the virus contained.

Is your venue as COVID-19 secure as it could be?

Sports venues play a vital role in the local community and see large volumes of players pass through their doors each day. As there will likely be a significant period of time before the majority of players are vaccinated, there are a few ways you can adapt your venue to help prevent spread of the virus.

Below are a few things you can do to get your venue COVID-19 secure:

Allow bookings and payments for your facilities online

By encouraging customers to book your venue online, you will limit the amount of contact time between staff and customers at the venue and lower the risk of contamination between both parties. Enforcing contactless online payments also means no handling of cash.

Online risk assessments 

Since the first lockdown, Bookteq have integrated an online risk assessment to the booking process. This allows the lead booker and venue manager to gauge any potential risk before their booking takes place.

Sanitisation stations

At the start of the pandemic, everyone was quick to buy hand sanitiser, including companies. Many businesses have introduced sanitisation stations to ensure everyone entering the venue has sanitised their hands.

Temperature checks

Another precautionary step you could take is to introduce temperature checks for anyone entering the venue. No Touch Infrared Forehead Thermometers can be purchased on Amazon for around £20. According to guidelines, anyone whose temperature surpasses 37.8C should be denied access to the venue.

Track and Trace

Playfinder ensure that lead bookers keep a record of all those attending their booking for Track and Trace purposes. If a case is reported, the lead booker is responsible for alerting the players. You can also generate a QR code for your venue through the NHS ‘Test and Trace’ app and have bookers check-in upon arrival.

Suspend equipment hire

While several sports players prefer to rent sports equipment at the venue, suspending equipment hire is vital in stopping the potential spread of bacteria between different households using the same equipment.

Buffer periods

Buffer periods are periods of time between bookings, usually 5-10 minutes, that prevent players from different bookings coming into contact. These periods also serve as a chance for any cleaning or equipment switch over to take place. Bookteq has a buffer period feature built into the software for venue manager use.

One-way zonal markings

Lastly, having one-way markings to entrances and exits for facilities is another way to help maintain social distancing and keep contact between customers to a minimum.

To learn more about how Bookteq can help get your venue COVID-secure head over to the register interest in the header above or talk to us on live chat.