From May 17, the government will axe guidance in place since March 2020 that says people in England should socially distance - stay two metres apart - from anyone outside their household or bubble.
Instead, people will be told they can choose whether to socially distance from family and close friends.
This means people can choose to hug, kiss or shake hands with friends or relatives in the park or in a home.
Importantly, this will be aimed at people meeting within legally-allowed group sizes - six indoors, 30 outdoors.
It does not apply to people from two different small gatherings hugging, or strangers hugging in the street or a pub.
People will be told to exercise their own personal judgement in line with the risks.
They will be urged to remain cautious, because some people are more vulnerable to severe illness than others and vaccines do not eliminate the risk from Covid.
People do not have to take a lateral flow test before hugging, but it’s one way of reducing the spread of the disease. Likewise people could meet indoors or with the windows open, or wear masks, if they choose to.
There is no limit to the amount of time you can spend with people in a day, or the time spent in a pub or restaurant.
Officials characterise the change as a move towards “living with” coronavirus into the future.
They add it is not in any sense the end of advice around social distancing - and legal restrictions remain.
They stress close contact with an infectious person is still the most likely cause of spread of coronavirus.
