Liverpool has been placed under strict local lockdown measures which limit the amount of socialising households can do together, to help stop the spread of the virus.
Cases are rocketing in Liverpool and the government has brought in tough new measures to combat the issue.
From midnight tonight a range of new restrictions will come into place, these are:
- People will not be allowed to mix with other households in any indoor setting, this mixing was already banned for private homes and gardens, but now this has been extended to all indoor settings, including pubs, bars and restaurants.
- You can only now mix indoors with your own household or the people in your support bubble.
- You cannot go for a meal or a drink indoors with someone you don't live with (or who isn't in your bubble) in a pub, restaurant or cafe.
- Schools and 'covid-secure' workplaces are not affected.
- Health Secretary Matt Hancock also said it is recommended that people do not attend professional or amateur sporting events as spectators.
- He said it is recommended that people only visit care homes in exceptional circumstances.
- And there is guidance against all but essential travel.
The restrictions don't extend to outdoor hospitality, which means you can still go for a meal or drink with someone outside your household as long as the table is outside, but the Department of Health does advise against doing this.
You can also meet someone else outside such as in a park, but the DHSC says it is "advised" that people "should not meet with anyone outside their household or support bubble in any outdoor setting".
With this in mind many people are asking why they can meet someone in a public space outside, but can't visit them in their garden.
The government haven't actually offered a reasoning for this, but it was brought in alongside the indoor household mixing ban.
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It's thought that people are more relaxed when they're in a private setting, meaning they may get closer to each other than the recommended one metre distance, meaning it is easier for the virus to spread.
Visiting someone's garden may also lead to indoor mixing, for example using the loo or going inside to grab a drink.
The weather is also turning into Autumn, meaning if people are meeting in a garden and the weather gets colder or it begins to rain people may be tempted to move inside, which is where scientists say the virus can transmit more easily.
All these factors are easier to police in public spaces, which may go some way towards explaining the new rules.
