UK Christmas lockdown – Can I go to the pub with my bubble at Christmas?
BRITS won’t be able to go the pub with their festive bubble during the five-day Christmas lockdown holiday, the government has announced.
Festive bubbles of three households will be limited to private homes, places of worship and outdoor settings in a blow to the hospitality industry.
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While three households can meet over the five-day Christmas break, the relaxation of the rules does not include hospitality venues including restaurants and bars.
However, people will be able to gather with their bubbles in private homes and also attend places of worship together.
Social distancing rules will also be scrapped between households in festive bubbles.
The details of the plan include:
- Three households will be allowed to meet up with no limits on numbers
- They will have to form an exclusive bubble and not meet others
- There will be a relaxation of restrictions on overnight stays, and people will be allowed to travel freely across Tiers
- People in their ‘Christmas bubble’ will be able to go to church or public spaces together – but wont be able to go to the pub or out for meals together
Speaking following the meeting, Mr Gove said this evening: “The UK-wide agreement reached today will offer hope for families and
friends who have made many sacrifices over this difficult year.
“We know that the Christmas period this year will not be normal, but following constructive discussions between the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations, families and friends will now have the option to meet up in a limited and cautious way across the UK should they wish.”
As first revealed by The Sun last week, leaders hammered out a plan to allow people to meet up for several days from December 23 to 27.
Shared households in England – such as friends sharing a flat, or a couple who wanted to see different parents – would be able to split up to join another household for the five-day period.
But they won’t be able to do this in Scotland – possibly splitting up millions of families.
In England, university students returning from halls at the end of term would automatically rejoin their family household and therefore not be included as a separate household.
The Tier rules won’t be completely scrapped for Christmas – and will apply in areas where the new bubbles rules don’t cover them.
So if people are in Tier 1, the rule of six will apply.
If they are in Tier 2 they will only be allowed to go to the pub or out for dinner with people they already live with – not the whole Christmas bubble.
And if they are in Tier 3, the pubs will be shut at Christmas anyway.
Although cases have been steadily falling this week, 11,299 more positive cases were reported today, along with more than 600 deaths.
Britain will go into a tier system next Wednesday after the national lockdown in England ends.
More places are expected to be put into the top level – Tier 3 – which will see pubs, restaurants and indoor entertainment shut.
People will be banned from household mixing until the Christmas lockdown holiday.
In Tier 2 they will also be unable to see other households inside, and can’t drink at the pub without having a substantial meal either.
Gyms, beauty salons and shops are set to reopen.
Unveiling his Covid winter plan yesterday, Boris Johnson told the nation that “more regions will fall into higher tiers than before” – meaning that the majority of Brits are expected to be banned from socialising indoors until the Spring.
He told the Commons: “We expect that more regions will fall at least temporarily into higher regions than before.
“By using these tougher tiers and rapid turnaround tests, it should be possible for areas to move down the tiering scale.”
Areas living under Tier 2 will have to follow rules that were previously in place in the highest Covid level – meaning pubs will only be able to serve booze alongside a “substantial meal”.
And punters will only be able to dine indoors with people they live with.