The COVID Christmas rules for tier 3 Lincolnshire

The relaxation of Christmas coronavirus restrictions has been cut from five days to one, with up to three households able to meet on December 25 only.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the reduction on Saturday afternoon as a virus mutation is spreading more rapidly in London, the South East and the East of England.

These areas moved into a new tier 4, but Lincolnshire remains in tier 3, so what exactly are the rules locally?

The COVID Christmas rules

Up to three households can meet, but only on Christmas Day (Friday, December 25), with no overnight stays and keeping visits as short as possible.

Only meet your Christmas bubble in private homes or in your garden, place of worship or public outdoor spaces.

The latest guidance states that you cannot mix with the other households in your Christmas bubble (unless otherwise permitted by your tier rules) before or after December 25, except in circumstances such as unforeseen travel disruption or a member of the bubble developing symptoms requiring you to self-isolate.

People cannot join a Christmas bubble with anyone from a tier 4 area and it is advised to stay local where possible. It is advised to avoid travelling from a high prevalence to a low prevalence area. People should not enter or leave tier 4 areas.

It is also advised to stop all unnecessary social contact outside your immediate household for at least five days before you meet other households in your bubble.

Only meet people who are not in your Christmas bubble outside your home, according to the rules of the tier you live in (unless coming from a lower to a higher tier).

Guidance also states to not meet socially with friends and family that you do not live with in your home or garden unless they are part of your Christmas bubble.

Outside a tier 4 area, people can stay in private rented accommodation, a hotel, hostel or B&B in England over Christmas.

This includes in tier 3 between December 24 and 26 as long as you are staying by yourself or with other members of your household and it is necessary for the purposes of seeing your Christmas bubble on December 25.

However, you should not gather as a Christmas bubble in a hotel, hostel or B&B in any tier unless a member of your bubble lives there permanently.

Those living in tier 4 areas should not mix with anyone outside their own household at Christmas, but support bubbles will remain in place for those at particular risk of loneliness or isolation. Tier 4 residents must not stay overnight away from home.

However, anyone in an existing support bubble with someone who lives in a tier 4 area can see that person on Christmas Day. If they choose to do so they must not join a Christmas bubble with anyone else.

You can continue to use a childcare bubble on December 25, including in a tier 4 area, but only if reasonably necessary for the purposes of childcare and where there are no reasonable alternatives.

Children under 18 whose parents do not live together may be part of both parents’ Christmas bubbles, if their parents choose to form separate bubbles. Nobody else should be in two bubbles.

Also, there will be no relaxation on December 31, so people must not break the rules at New Year.

All tiers will continue to be regularly reviewed, with the next review taking place on December 30.

Read the full guidance here