Social Distancing Changes from 4th July 2020

Posted on June 23rd, 2020

This is everything you can and cannot do from July 4, according to the government’s latest announcement.

The new guidance will allow pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, cafes and bars to re-open across the country.

Two-metre rule no more

The two-metre social distancing rule can now be relaxed and replaced with a “one metre plus” rule.

This involves keeping one metre apart, plus other mitigations such as wearing face coverings, sitting people side to side rather than face to face to reduce transmission, and increased use of hand sanitiser.

Pub visits – and plenty of other places re-opening too

Many venues and businesses will be allowed to reopen, as long as they are “Covid-secure”, for example by maintaining social distancing.

These include hotels, hostels, bed and breakfast accommodation, holiday apartments or homes, cottages or bungalows, campsites, caravan parks or boarding houses. Shared facilities must be kept very clean.

Restaurants, cafes, workplace canteens, bars, pubs and cinemas can reopen, as can places of worship, libraries, community centres and bingo halls.

Theatres and concert halls can reopen but not for live performances.

Museums and galleries, hair salons and barbers can reopen.

Outdoor playgrounds, outdoor gyms, funfairs, theme parks and adventure parks and activities can reopen.

Amusement arcades, outdoor skating rinks, indoor leisure centres or facilities – including indoor games and recreation – can also open up.

Social clubs, model villages and indoor attractions at aquariums, zoos, safari parks, farms, wildlife centres, and any place where animals are exhibited to the public as an attraction, can reopen.

Some places can’t open

But some venues must stay shut, including nightclubs, casinos, bowling alleys, indoor skating rinks, and indoor play areas including softplay.

Spas, nail bars and beauty salons must also stay closed for now, as must massage, tattoo and piercing parlours.

Indoor fitness and dance studios, and indoor gyms and sport venues, must stay closed.

Swimming pools and water parks will stay closed.

Exhibition or conference centres that are to be used for exhibitions or conferences must also stay closed.

Overnight sleepovers

Families are set to be reunited.

From July 4, two separate households will be allowed to travel and stay with one another in another major change for people’s lives.

And the new rule does not limit the meet-ups to two households only.

One household could meet another for a meal out or at their home one weekend and meet a different household the next weekend.

A family will be able to meet one set of grandparents one week and another set the following week.

But importantly, the restrictions on hugging and touching have not been lifted – with physical contact still banned.

The new rules will also allow two households of any size to meet in an outdoor setting.

Indoor gatherings of any two households will now be allowed. People will be able to visit someone’s house for a dinner party, for example, or to stay over with grandparents as long as social distancing is observed.