Ms Nicholls says hotels could provide useful testing grounds for reopening. Around 20pc of sites have stayed open for key workers during the crisis, but their restaurants and bars remain closed.
She says: “You could almost use those hotel restaurants as mini labs.
“Without letting any of the general public in, you could explore what kind of controls work in that space that’s already identified as meeting Covid-19 Secure workplace guidelines.”
Manufacturing
Britain’s manufacturing sector, which makes up about 10pc of the economy and employs 2.7m people, has been encouraged by the Government to keep working throughout the lockdown.
The release of sector specific advice does little to change practices which factories had to develop themselves while much of the rest of the economy was closed.
About 87pc of companies in the sector have maintained operations in some form throughout the lockdown, according to industry trade body MakeUK.
Companies have already embraced government advice to introduce one-way systems as people move around buildings, spread workstations apart, work back-to-back or side-to-side rather than face-to-face, and limit the use of shared equipment and tools.
Companies have also already broken down workforces into groups to limit social contact so that where it is inevitable, it is between the same people.
Stephen Phipson, chief executive of MakeUk, added: “Many manufacturers are already operating at the top end of safe working and have adapted working environments in line with government guidance.”
Similar measures have also been adopted by the construction sector, which similarly was asked by ministers to continue working.
The sector, which employs about 1.4m people is worth £113bn a year, was considered essential to the economy and many companies did manage to keep operating.
However, in advice to both sectors, government says that wearing extra protective equipment beyond what is normally required is “not beneficial”.
It added that coronavirus is a “different type of risk… and needs to be managed through social distancing, hygiene and fixed teams or partnering, not through the use of PPE.”
Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, says: “Builders have been calling for clear direction from the Government and the Prime Minister has now made it plain that he wants a return to work.”
He added that coronavirus is still a risk which must be managed, and called for more direction on how PPE can be shared out so that all workers who need it are able to get it.