Portsmouth News

COVID-19: All your key Questions answered. . .

-

With winter fast approachin­g, it is now more important than ever for us all to carry on following COVID-19 precaution­s to help stop the spread of the virus by always observing the three-tier local restrictio­ns and rememberin­g three key words – Hands, Face, Space. Please continue to wash your hands, cover your face and make space between yourself and others to controlinf­ection rates.

AAHERE, THE UK Government answers your ten most asked questions …

Q:

My son is in university campus accommodat­ion with seven others who share a living room, kitchen and bathrooms but have their own bedrooms. Is this OK?

: Your son and his friends likely constitute a household, so they can continue to gather together, but would not be able to socialise with another person as a household.

Q:

My grandmothe­r needs a carer. How can she ensure she is not going to catch

COVID-19 if she hires one? : Guidance has been developed in collaborat­ion and community centres and with care provider village halls to ask customers for representa­tive groups for those their contact details to support delivering home care, to ensure NHS Test and Trace. However, that appropriat­e levels of hygiene it is only in hospitalit­y sectors are achieved to reduce the risk of where refusal to provide this will infection. You should speak to your necessitat­e the business refusing care provider about the processes entry or service. This does not they are following to maintain apply to services where products good hygiene. are taken off-site immediatel­y, for

Q:

example if food and drink is taken

I went to a well-known away. If a business offers a mixture

coffee shop chain last of sit-in and takeaway services,

week and was not asked contact informatio­n should only

to fill out my NHS Test and Trace be collected for customers who are

informatio­n. Why not? Are there dining in.

different rules for different

A Q:

kinds of establishm­ents? My children are starting

: The UK Government has to come home from introduced a new law to school with snuffles and make it mandatory for sore throats, but not fevers or businesses in the hospitalit­y coughs. Do I need to get them sector, leisure and tourism tested every time they complain sectors, close contact services of feeling “coldy”?

A: You should get your child tested if they develop one of the three main symptoms of COVID-19: a high temperatur­e, a new continuous cough and/or a loss or change to their sense of smell or taste

Q:

AI am a pensioner and am feeling very lonely. A social group I was previously part of has started meeting for dinners etc. in small groups in restaurant­s. Would I be safe to join them? : If you live in a Medium risk area you are allowed to join small groups in restaurant­s, either indoors or outdoors, as long as the number doesn’t exceed six. If you live in a High or a Very High risk area you can meet in groups of up to six people outdoors, in some settings, and only one household indoors. Single households or support bubbles of more than six are still able to gather together. can participat­e in indoor sport but must not mix with other households or bubbles. Disabled indoor sport and supervised sports for children are exempt from these restrictio­ns. Outdoor sports can continue to take place with more than six people if they are organised by a company or other

Can my local gym put on a recognised body, and where this body

yoga class for more than six undertakes the relevant precaution­s.

Q:

people? And can I continue to play in my netball team? I assume that since I am back : Indoor sport can only take at work with 15 people, I can place if the general gathering have those people back to my rules in that area are complied house, to socialise in the garden, as with. In a High or Very High risk areas, long as we keep the same distance individual households or bubbles we would in the office. Is that right?

Q:

A

A: No, meeting with work colleagues outside of work is not COVID-19 secure and there is an increased transmissi­on risk.

Q:

If my neighbours are having a gathering that is clearly of more than six people, what do I do? Should I

A call the police?

: The UK Government is in discussion­s about what official reporting mechanisms there might be, but people are encouraged to call the non-emergency police number (101) to report any breaches of COVID-19 measures.

You should only use the emergency number (999) if there is an immediate threat to life

Q:

ACan I book two tables of six in a restaurant so we can talk to each other but not gather at each other’s tables? : No. Talking across two tables of six would involve forming a larger gathering or mingling, which would be against the law.

Q:

AAm I allowed to have five friends back to my flat for a drink after the pubs close at 10pm? : Those within local COVID alert level Medium may. continue to meet up to five other people so long as you ensure social distancing and other mitigation­s such as increased ventilatio­n and good hygiene practices like regular hand washing. People in High and Very High risk areas cannot meet people from outside their own household inside but could sit in the garden.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom