What I can do with my family over the Christmas holidays
Everyone knows by now that for the Christmas period, defined by the Government as between December 23 and 27 inclusive, the current Tier System and the rules in general will be relaxed. But how?
I’ll concentrate on the change people most care about – what can I do with my family?
The biggest changes will be for regions currently in Tier 3 where you aren’t allowed to mix indoors or outdoors with anyone not in your bubble. At Christmas this will be suspended, you will be allowed to for “special bubbles” for the
Christmas period. These bubbles apply only to meetings in private homes and gardens so the Tier system will continue to govern what you do outside such as in pubs, restaurants, or shops.
Your household (i.e the people you live with including any support bubble) can “link” with any other two household for this period. It is interesting to note that for the purpose of Christmas if you are in a support bubble with another household then you only count as one household. So for example your three families could be comprised as follows:
1) Household 1 – Single mother/father with child under 18 plus her two parents; 2) Household 2 – Single adult over 18 (who lives alone) plus their two parents and 3) Household 3 – Two grandparents plus adult child over 18 with or without children (who lives alone).
In other words three
“linked” households under the Tier System can link in this fashion meaning a maximum number of 6 households (i.e three households plus their three support bubbles) could meet up together during the Christmas period.
The households can be of any number so for private homes the “rule of 6” has been suspended for this period. It continues to apply in public settings such as the pub, restaurants etc.
All members of each household must wish to be “linked” with the other households and once broken you cannot form “links” with other households.
For example you couldn’t link with two families on December 25 and then two different families on December 26. The “link” lasts for the whole of the Christmas period and you can meet them as many times as you wish during that period for as long as you wish.