Coronavirus

This page provides the latest advice, guidance and information around England Touch and COVID-19 for all participants in the game. It will be updated as and when changes occur.

Enhanced Covid protocols for 2021 National Touch Series

England Touch will have enhanced Covid protocols in place for the 2021 National Touch Series, both for Elite and Development events.

This includes a health questionnaire and a strong recommendation that a lateral flow test is taken on the Friday before the relevant round.

CLICK HERE for all the information!

LOCKDOWN 3 Return to Play timetable for spring 2021 (updated 17/05/21)

England Touch has confirmed that Touch Rugby will be moving into Stage 6: National in the Association’s Return to Play protocols as of Monday, May 17th.

Not only will the ETA be able to take its planning for the National Touch Series into the next stage but the High Performance training camps will be able to resume with in-person training.

At the same time clubs will be able to arrange fixtures and tournaments with their peers from elsewhere in England, and in-person development courses can now be held in person with attendees coming from nationwide.

However, clubs, teams and individuals alike need to continue to follow the government’s latest advice regarding travel, which currently include:

Car sharing is possible, albeit with reduced numbers in cars, face coverings and good ventilation
Wearing a face covering on public transport, unless you are exempt
Staying two metres away from anyone who is not in your household/support bubble when travelling, or one metre if you are wearing a face covering

From May 17th clubhouses and other venues will be able to open for inside hospitality for tables of up to six people adhering to the above social distancing, and social distancing should still be adhered to outside, when not on the playing field (especially for team photos!).

Further information

For the latest UK government guidance on what you can and cannot do head to www.gov.uk/coronavirus.

For further information, please initially contact your Club or League Covid-19 Officer.

CLICK HERE to remind yourselves of all the England Touch Return to Play stages.

Any specific questions can be emailed to returntoplay@englandtouch.org.uk or your club representative can ask it via the Return to Play WhatsApp group.

There is more general advice about sport and exercise on the Sport England website.

There are six stages in our Return to Play plans - 1. Prepare, 2. Train, 3. Play, 4. Local, 5. Regional, 6. National.

Downloadable documents

England Touch Return to Play Action Plan – August 2020

England Touch Return to Play: COVID-19 Self-declaration form

England Touch Return to Play: Before activity

England Touch Return to Play: During activity

England Touch Return to Play: After activity

England Touch Return to Play: COVID-19 Code of Conduct

England Touch Return to Play: Template risk assessment for clubs and leagues

England Touch Return to Play: Template risk assessment for coaches

England Touch Return to Play: Useful resources

England Touch Return to Play: Track and trace QR code example

England Touch Return to Play: COVID-19 Incident form

Coronavirus symptoms reminder

If you are showing any coronavirus symptoms whatsoever then do not train, and if you develop symptoms after a session you must inform whoever ran your session so they can inform others for self-isolating purposes.

These include: