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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Danya Bazaraa

England lockdown: New rules explained for getting your hair cut and going to the gym

Hairdressers and gyms will shut under the second lockdown in England expected to last until December.

Non-essential shops, leisure and entertainment venues will all be closed in the lockdown due to begin at 12.01am on Thursday 5 November, subject to Parliamentary approval.

People will still be able to exercise outdoors and unlike in the first lockdown, there will be no limit to the number of times a day you can exercise and playgrounds will remain open.

You will also be allowed to sit down in the park, including for a picnic.

However, the rule of six no longer applies to outdoor gatherings - instead, people can only meet one person from one other household or bubble, and only if they’re on their own when they do so.

Hairdressers will have to close once again (file photo) (Getty Images)

MPs will vote on the new measures before they are introduced at 00.01 on Thursday, and when they lapse, the current tier system will be reintroduced.

The lockdown will end on Wednesday 2 December, when the government seek to ease the new restrictions on a local and regional basis, according to the latest data and trends at the time.

It will be subject to a debate and a vote in the House of Commons, which is likely to happen on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister will be making a statement to Parliament on Monday at 3.30pm.

But it is thought his announcement was brought forward to today after the plans leaked to three newspapers.

Gyms will have to close again (file photo) (Getty Images)
Gyms will close but outdoor exercise will be allowed (file photo) (Getty Images)

The restrictions will be similar to those introduced at the start of the pandemic in March, however this time schools and universities are expected to remain open.

Sage member Professor Calum Semple earlier told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "For the naysayers that don't believe in a second wave, there is a second wave.

"And, unlike the first wave, where we had a national lockdown which protected huge swathes of society, this outbreak is now running riot across all age groups."

The new rules are expected to start on Thursday (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Professor John Edmunds said the only way to have a "relatively safe" Christmas is to take "stringent" action now to bring the incidence of the virus "right down".

It comes after a senior Government scientific adviser said it is "definitely too late to think that the two-week circuit-breaker on its own will sort this out".

"It would bring it down a bit but it wouldn't be enough to bring (the R value) right down. A two-week circuit-breaker would have an effect but now almost certainly it would need to go on for longer to have a significant effect."

 
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