The UK's coronavirus lockdown has been extended for at least another three weeks.
The strict rules put in place three weeks ago when Prime Minister Boris Johnson first announced the lockdown in a televised address to the whole of the UK remain in place and will continue to be enforced through police action if necessary. They are the strictest restrictions on the movement of British people ever seen.
The extension to the rules was confirmed by foreign secretary Dominic Raab on Thursday evening after First Minister Mark Drakeford had said the measures would stay in place in Wales.
There have been extraordinary scenes across the UK since lockdown was put in place with businesses shut, workers furloughed, and city streets deserted. But while most people have stuck to the rules of self-isolation and social distancing put in place many have ignored them, with families heading to west Wales on holiday, groups out walking, or streets holding parties. You can see examples of how people broke the rules over the Easter weekend here.
And NHS workers, many of whom have lost their lives fighting coronavirus, have issued repeated and desperate please for people to abide by these rules.
These are the lockdown rules you must now follow
You will only be allowed to leave your home for the following very limited purposes:
- shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible;
- one form of exercise a day – for example a run, walk, or cycle – alone or with members of your household;
- any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person;
- travelling to and from work but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.
To be clear, those are the only reasons you should leave your home. And even when doing them you should be minimising time spent outside of the home and ensuring you are two metres apart from anyone outside of your household.
How to maintain social distancing when shopping or exercising
If you go out, you should stay two metres (6ft) away from other people at all times. This has led shops restricting the numbers of people allowed in at the same time and scenes of long queues of people standing two metres apart outside supermarkets and other shops. You should also wash your hands as soon as you get home.
Can I still go to work?
You may travel for work purposes but only where you cannot work from home. The UK government says employers and employees should discuss their working arrangements and employers should take every possible step to facilitate their employees working from home.
Critical workers are those who can still take their children to school or childcare. This critical worker definition does not affect whether or not you can travel to work – if you are not a critical worker you may still travel to work provided you cannot work from home.
Anyone who has symptoms or is in a household where someone has symptoms should not go to work and should self-isolate.
You should not be doing the following
- You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say no.
- You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home.
- You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine — and you should do this as little as you can. And use food delivery services where you can.
To ensure compliance, these rules remain in place
- All shops selling non-essential goods are closed, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship;
- All venues like pubs, bars, restaurants and cinemas are closed;
- All gatherings of more than two people in public are stopped, excluding people you live with;
- All social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals, are stopped;
- Parks remain open for exercise but gatherings will be dispersed.
Public gatherings
Public gatherings of more than two people are not allowed. There are only two exceptions to this rule:
- where the gathering is of a group of people who live together (this means that a parent can, for example, take their children to the shops if there is no option to leave them at home)
- where the gathering is essential for work purposes – but workers should be trying to minimise all meetings and other gatherings in the workplace.
Announcing the measures initially, Mr Johnson said: "The coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for decades – and this country is not alone. Without a huge national effort to halt the growth of this virus, there will come a moment when no health service in the world could possibly cope; because there won’t be enough ventilators, enough intensive care beds, enough doctors and nurses.
"To put it simply, if too many people become seriously unwell at one time, the NHS will be unable to handle it – meaning more people are likely to die, not just from coronavirus but from other illnesses as well.
"And that’s why we have been asking people to stay at home during this pandemic. And though huge numbers are complying – and I thank you all – the time has now come for us all to do more."
