The Prime Minister has announced a second national lockdown for England. View the full speech. In summary, this lockdown comes into effect on 00.01 Thursday for 4 weeks (following a Commons vote on Wednesday and regulations published on Tuesday), so until 2 December 2020. After the four weeks, the Government will seek to ease restrictions, going back into the tiered system on a local and a regional basis according to the latest data and trends.
Key points from his speech are:
- The public must stay at home from Thursday, only leaving home for specific reasons, including:
- For education
- For work, say if you cannot work from home
- For exercise and recreation outdoors, with your household or on your own with one person from another household
- For medical reasons, appointments and to escape injury or harm
- To shop for food and essentials
- To provide care for vulnerable people, or as a volunteer.
- Workplaces should stay open where people can’t work from home – for example in the construction or manufacturing sectors.
- Single adult households can still form exclusive support bubbles with one other household, and children will still be able to move between homes if their parents are separated.
A press release on the PM’s statement on upcoming national restrictions in England has since been published which outlines some further details on restrictions applicable to tourism. The key points to note are:
- There is no exemption for staying away from home on holiday. This means people cannot travel internationally or within the UK, unless for work, education or other legally permitted exemptions. Overnight stays away from primary residences will not be allowed, except for specific exceptions including for work.
- Inbound international travel will continue to be governed by the travel corridor approach, and those currently on a domestic holiday will be allowed to finish their holidays, but are still subject to the requirements in England not to go out without a reasonable excuse.
