Those who live alone in England will now be allowed to stay at one other household following the latest statement from prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday evening.
Johnson has said that from midnight on Saturday single adults will be able to spend the night at another house in what he referred to as a “support bubble”. Downing street revealed that this new change in rules is aimed at combating loneliness across the nation as a result of Covid-19. They stressed that people are being trusted to continue to obey the rules which have been set.
In his statement, he said: "All those in a support bubble will be able to act as if they live in the same household, meaning they can spend time together inside each others' homes and do not need to stay two metres apart.”
Johnson continued: "I want to stress that support bubbles must be exclusive, meaning you can't switch the household you are in a bubble with or connect with multiple households.
"And if any member of the support bubble develops symptoms, all members of the bubble will need to follow the normal advice on household isolation."
The relaxation to the rules does not apply to those who are shielding, nor the other nations within the UK. At present there are 8.2 million people living alone, with 2.9 million single-parent households.
Johnson also announced the introduction of a “catch-up programme” for pupils in England, following this week’s confirmation that most children will not return to school until September at the earliest.
