Children have been reuniting with their grandparents for the first time in three months as the government’s new “support bubble” scheme came into effect in England on Saturday.
Heidi, five, from Worthing, West Sussex, was able to embrace Nana Pam because her grandmother lives alone and can pair with one other household for support, without observing physical distancing rules.
Heidi’s father Gareth Snow, 37, filmed the moment the pair were reunited. “Today we have been able to reunite Nana Pam with her granddaughter and best friend Heidi,” he said. “It has been a long three months of FaceTime and doorstep hellos at a distance, which has been hard on both of them as they are usually so close.
“For those living alone this will make life so much easier – a little bit of ‘normal’. They can now go for a walk along the seafront, picnic in the park together … Simple things that have sadly not been possible during lockdown.”
Emily, Benjamin and Daisy, from Ashtead in Surrey, also met their grandmother, Susan, for the first time in months on Saturday.
The rule, which came into effect on Saturday, means adults living alone or a single parent with children under the age of 18 can be treated as a single household for the purposes of following lockdown rules.
They can visit each other indoors in their homes and stay overnight if they wish. They will not have to observe the two-metre physical distancing rule if they do so.
The move comes before a further easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions in England, with the reopening of non-essential shops on Monday. In Northern Ireland, the shops began opening on Friday.
Announcing the plan for support bubbles earlier this week, Boris Johnson said it was a targeted intervention designed to help those most isolated by the lockdown.
However, the latest papers released by the Sage revealed scientists had extreme concern about the introduction of support bubbles. In mid-May, the experts urged strong caution over bringing in bubbles when other distancing measures just been lifted. “Sage has previously advised against making too many changes at once,” it said.
It said there was significant potential risk if larger households are allowed to bubble together, something the government is not proposing.
