Coronavirus (COVID-19) - Latest advice
• 9 MINUTE READ
This page provides up to date information as to how the coronavirus (Covid-19) and the latest government advice around it, relates to tennis activities in Britain and all those involved in delivering them, with separate guidelines in place for each of England, Scotland and Wales.
Latest updates
- England - 'living with covid' guidance (updated 1 April)
- Scotland - removal of guidance for sport (updated 23 March)
- Wales - updated guidance (updated 6 April)
- Channel Islands - latest guidance
England
Updated 1 April 2022
As of 1 April 2022, England entered the government's 'Living with respiratory infections, including Covid-19' phase of their response to the coronavirus pandemic.
This means there are now no coronavirus-related legal restrictions in place.
All forms of tennis activity can take place with no coronavirus-related restrictions on how many people can participate, and all tennis facilities can open.
- Further details are provided on the Government website.
Scotland
Updated 23 March 2022
As a result of the removal of most Coronavirus regulations in Scotland, sportscotland’s return to sport and physical guidance has been withdrawn. This means there are now no tennis specifci coronavirus-related restrictions in place, and all forms of tennis activity can take place with and all tennis facilities can open.
- Further details are provided on the sportscotland website
- For general advice on helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it is recommended following the rules and guidance on how to stay safe published on the Scottish Government website.
Wales
Updated 6 April 2022
From the 28 March 2022 in Wales, many of the restrictions in relation to Covid-19 ended. That doesn’t mean that Covid has gone away and we all should remain mindful of ensuring we uphold best practice to reduce the spread of the virus and to keep people safe. We have updated our guidance to reflect the latest Welsh Government guidance. If the public health situation remains stable, Welsh Government will remove all remaining restrictions on the 18 April 2022.
In the interim, we request that venues maintain a Covid-19 responsible person, primarily to oversee the mandatory requirement of a risk assessment and to act as a point of contact and support.
Guidance for Tennis Venues, Coaches and Officials
- You MUST complete a COVID-19 risk assessment.This should consider any reasonable measures needed for staff and customers. Your risk assessment should be shared with staff and volunteers. More information is available in the HSE guidance. The Welsh Government in partnership with the sports sector have developed an action card of reasonable measures for indoor sport facilities, these will help you prepare an appropriate risk assessment and take preventative action to reduce the spread of COVID-19. There is also an action card specifically for events
- Provide adequate ventilation.Venues should make sure there is a supply of fresh air to enclosed spaces where there are people present. This can be natural ventilation through windows, doors and vents, mechanical ventilation using fans and ducts, or a combination of both. More information is available in the HSE guidance on ventilation and air conditioning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Clean more often.Venues should increase how often they clean surfaces, especially those that are touched a lot. Staff and customers should be encouraged to use hand sanitiser and clean their hands frequently.
- Communicate and train.Keep all your workers, contractors and visitors up to date on how you’re using and updating safety measures.
- Provide communications and guidanceto participants in advance of attendance- including undertaking a self-assessment for symptoms of COVID-19, encouraging regular lateral flow testing and that they should not take part or attend if they have tested positive.
- Encourage people to practice good hygiene – encourage regular hand sanitisation. Depending on personal choice, different players may wish to continue with some changes, such as not shaking hands after participating. First aiders, physios or other medical personnel should continue to ensure good hygiene standards when treating participants.
- Shared equipment – sharing of equipment should be minimised. Where unavoidable, users should practice good hand hygiene with equipment cleaned regularly.
- Face coverings – are no longer a legal requirement other than in health and social care settings. However, their usage particularly in indoor spaces will limit the spread of the virus and protect people. For further information on face coverings visit here
Covid-19 symptoms and self-isolation
I have Covid-19 symptoms what should I do?
If you have any of the main symptoms of Covid-19, you should self-isolate, take a lateral flow test (LFT) and you should continue to self-isolate until you get your LFT test result. For further information on please see the guidance on what to do if you have symptoms.
My lateral flow test was positive, do I have to self-isolate?
If you have Covid-19, you can infect other people even if you have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. Although it is no longer a legal requirement, the most effective way to avoid passing on COVID-19 infection is avoiding contact with other people and self-isolating for 5 full days.
Taking lateral flow tests from day 5 until you return two consecutive negative results, or until day 10 (whichever is earlier). For further information on self-isolation please see the self-isolation guidance.
Guidance for tennis players, venues & coaches in Wales
Channel Islands
The latest guidelines for players, venues, coaches and officials in the Channel Islands can be found via the links below:
Further information is also available from the Guernsey Sports Commission and Jersey Sport.
During these challenging times for our society, our focus is to ensure tennis coaches, venues, volunteers, officials and players are supported in any way they can be, so that tennis in Britain emerges from this period in as strong and healthy position as possible, and the sport is able to resume its role in keeping the nation active.
We have created a bespoke web page which gives an overview of all our packages of additional funding and measures to support those involved in tennis in Britain who have been severely impacted by the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
These measures have been developed by the LTA in consultation with Tennis Scotland and Tennis Wales, and will make additional support available to tennis venues, coaches, officials and players to complement that available from the Government in recognition of the vital contribution these groups all make to tennis.
You can read our announcement of these support measures here.
The National Tennis Centre is now open for elite training on a controlled basis, as part of the phased return of elite sport. All other activity delivered by the LTA remains suspended for the foreseeable future, including all LTA organised coaching sessions, programmes and training courses. We have also now extended the cancellation of all LTA staged and LTA approved competitions (grade 1 to 6) up to Sunday 26 June 2020 (please see below for further details on this).
The LTA, in conjunction with the All England Club, the ITF, ATP and WTA, has regrettably announced the cancellation of its summer Grass Court events and the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships following the latest advice from the UK Government and the suspension of professional tennis due to the escalating coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
For further details on this including what it means for fans who had tickets, please read our news article on the announcement.
We are still working through the refund process for tickets for The Championships 2020 alongside The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which we are advised is expected to take a few weeks. We would like to apologise that this process has taken longer than initially anticipated.
We will be in contact with all ticketholders as soon as we can; an email notification will be sent on the date the refund is processed.
We appreciate your patience during what we know are difficult times. Thank you for your continued support of tennis in Britain.
We have now extended the cancellation of all LTA staged and LTA approved competitions (grade 1 to 5) up to Monday 31 August 2020. This includes the O35s County Cup, Ilkley Grade 2, East Gloucester Grade 2, County Championships and the Junior National Championships.
We have updated our dedicated FAQ pages in relation to competitions for both officials and players - should you have any further questions, please refer to these pages.
To help everyone continue to stay active, we have produced a variety of content to keep you fit, healthy and entertained whilst at home - check out our dedicated 'Tennis at Home Hub', and follow LTA social media channels to get more #TennisAtHome content!
The latest Government and NHS guidance and information regarding Covid-19 can be found via the following links:
For those in England, Sport England’s latest update for the sport and physical activity sector regarding Covid-19 can be read here:
Getting in touch
Due to the impact of COVID-19, our LTA Services function is operating a highly limited service. We ask that you only get in touch if absolutely necessary.
Please visit our Help & FAQs to find answers to the majority of enquiries.
