With the second lockdown upon us, there is still some confusion about what people are allowed to do. Talk of bubbles, moving between friends and family has become very confusing, so we are here to help you see through the fog.
The rules should be clear and simple, but every lockdown restriction seems to come with a caveat, such as wearing face masks is mandatory – unless you have a good reason not to wear one!
Pubs, restaurants, leisure and spa facilities will all be closed – unless the pub or restaurant is offering takeaway food or alcohol.
Takeaway alcohol will be allowed following a u-turn, does that mean you have to do your u-turn outside the pub whilst sober or is it a move designed for the inebriated?! We are not sure if you will be allowed to drink your takeaway alcohol on the street or if you will have to wait until you get home.
Most sports have now been stopped unless either it is an elite sport or you are staging your own inhouse tiddlywinks competition. Virtual sports, which are actually nothing like the real thing, are allowed – unless your broadband connection is slower than a snail in treacle.
ESSENTIAL = absolutely necessary; extremely important
Example : my new playstation 5 is extremely important to me
You are only allowed to leave your home for essential reasons, such as going to school, work or shopping- unless it is for exercise, in which you can do this as many times as you wish.
People can also leave their home for recreation purposes with their own household, or on their own with one person from another household, such as meeting up with a friend in the park for a walk or to sit on a bench and eat a sandwich. That’s quite specific – what about a ‘wrap’ or bagette? People will not be allowed to meet in homes and gardens. So four people from one house can meet up with four people from another house as long as they do it on a one-to-one basis?!!! Can we then change our one-to-one buddy the next day?
You are not allowed to enter other peoples homes – unless you are a plumber or electrician! it is going to be a great Christmas for workers from those trades!
People are allowed to attend medical appointments and are also allowed to escape injury or harm (for example: people suffering domestic abuse). That is good news for those with their home on fire!
Hairdressers and beauty salons will close, as will barbers – except for those that have refused to close!!
Non-essential shops will close – unless the business owner can find a reason to say that it is essential – or offer takeaway facilities! For example, technology shops will be providing new gaming consoles to customers as part of their ‘takeaway’ service. Car dealers will also allow buyers to ‘take away’ their new vehicle!
Childminders and nurseries will stay open and childcare bubbles, where for example a grandparent provides childcare while a parent works, will be able to continue. But the grandparent will not be allowed to enter the family home so will have to sit outside in the freezing cold, until a parent arrives.
You are advised not to travel unless for essential reasons, so people can travel for work but not for a holiday – unless it is a ‘working holiday’!
You may go to church for private prayer but only if no one else is inside the church. You will have to queue outside until the church is available, so it is bad luck for you if the person inside the church falls asleep.
Funerals are limited to close family members only but at the current time it is completely unclear what the rules are for weddings – so if you are planning a wedding you may as well carry on as the police will not have a clue what to do about it!
Overall then, it looks like the next four weeks are going to run extremely smoothly. We cannot see any issues happening in regards to the lockdown rules and everyone should have a clear idea about what they are doing! :-/
