From today if you do travel on public transport you will have to wear a face covering and if you have not covered your face then you may be refused travel and could be fined up to £100. If you need to visit a hospital for any reason you must also wear a face covering.  It’s very important to also continue social distancing and handwashing as before and the advice remains to avoid using public transport if you can.

Also from today some non-essential shops will be starting to open up and Leeds CIty Council have issued some information and advice:

From Monday June 15, shops and businesses across the city will start to reopen. Our main priority remains on keeping people safe in public space and places, and ensuring people can adhere to social distancing rules to stop the spread of the virus.

Whilst we continue to work with partners and businesses to ensure the city centre is ready to open in a safe way, there are a number of things you can do to stay safe including washing your hands regularly, using contactless payments where possible, and maintaining social distancing guidelines.

Working with businesses, partners and stakeholders in the city centre including LeedsBID, the measures include widening pedestrian areas where possible, emergency trial pop-up cycle lanes, key information signage, one-way systems through shopping centres and shops and hand sanitiser stations.  Whilst a number of shops will be open straight away from Monday, more are expected to follow in the coming weeks.

Guidance has been given to businesses to support them to operate safely, including ways to manage safe queuing systems including disabled access outside stores maintaining the two-metre social distancing rule, while the public messaging encourages people to use contactless payment wherever possible. Everyone is advised to wash their hands regularly, and especially before leaving home and when returning after being in public.

A new council team of ‘city centre ambassadors’ will be on hand in the city centre in the main retail areas to help the public, while other council teams will also be available to offer assistance and guidance to keep people safe.

Some but not all toilets in the city centre will be open, while parking in all council-managed car parks remains free of charge until at least July 4. For more information on parking in Leeds visit https://www.visitleeds.co.uk/resources/car-parking-in-leeds/

Measures are in place at travel hubs including Leeds Station and Leeds Bus Station to support social distancing, while additional cleaning is also taking place at transport interchanges. All park and ride services remain closed until further notice.

Leeds City Council’s cleansing services team will be carrying out enhanced cleaning in the city centre working with the LeedsBID rangers, with public benches available for use but only with the two-metre distancing being followed. Collections from recycling on the go bins and coffee cup bins in the city centre have also now resumed, with all items of street furniture including bins being regularly deep cleaned.

Anyone developing symptoms of the virus is advised to stay at home and follow the national guidelines in terms of requesting a test and the track and trace system if the test proves positive. Those in shielded groups are also advised to continue following the national guidance to keep them safe.

Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor Judith Blake said:

“It is a positive and welcome step to see our city centre start to reopen, but we would still urge considerable caution and ask people to follow the guidance and messaging they see in shops and public spaces, with patience and understanding so everyone can keep safe.

“We would encourage people where possible to think carefully about how and when they choose to travel, with active travel in terms of walking and cycling preferred and to allow more time for journeys and moving around the city centre.

“All of these measures are designed to stop the virus spreading, so if everyone takes care to follow them it will help us all.”