Some people across the UK have been able to form bubbles of household support, or extended households.
The aim is to help people who are cut off from friends and family.
A bubble is a group of people with whom you have close physical contact.
Bubbles must be “exclusive”. Once in one, you cannot start another with a different household. If you decide to switch bubbles, you should treat your previous bubble as a separate household for 10 days before starting a new one.
People in a bubble can stay at each other’s homes, visit outdoor places together, and don’t have to social distancing.
In England, single adults – or single parents with children under 18 – can form a support bubble with another household.
The second household can be of any size and may include “vulnerable” people who may be screened.
Wherever possible, the Government recommends that a support bubble should be with another local household to avoid unnecessary travel. Anyone in the bubble who is contacted as part of the English testing and tracing program must stay at home. If they develop coronavirus symptoms, everyone in the bubble will need to self-isolate.
The government extended the eligibility of support bubbles in England on December 2 to help families with very young children or those with permanent care needs. This means that households can form a support bubble with another household if at least one of them:
- a child under 1 year (regardless of how many other adults live in the household)
- a child under the age of 5 with a disability who needs constant care (regardless of how many other adults live in the household)
- a single adult caregiver (who lives with any other adults in the household who have disabilities and need ongoing care)
As well as the support bubble rules, the government in England also has a set of rules that apply to families with children under the age of 14 (as well as vulnerable adults).
You can form a childcare bubble with another household to provide informal (unpaid and unregistered) childcare. This must always be between the same two households. Childcare can take place in one or both houses.
Registered childcare and childcare bubbles may continue during lockdown.
- Two singles each living alone can gush
- Someone in a shared apartment might be bubbling – but their roommates shouldn’t be allowed to form bubbles of their own with other people
Full government guidelines for England can be found here.
In Wales, you are not allowed to visit other households or meet other people you don’t live with during lockdown unless they are in your support bubble.
Support bubbles can be formed by:
- Households in which one adult lives alone
- Households in which an adult lives with any number of children under the age of 18, or
- Households where more than one adult lives, but one adult is responsible for all other adults in the household
People in the same bubble can stay in each other’s houses overnight. And they can gather in groups at some other outdoor locations.
If you were in a temporary extended household during the fire break or before, you can create a new bubble instead. However, once you have agreed and joined this new expanded household, no household can leave to start a new one.
Under the five-tier system in Scotland, people living alone or with children under 18 can form an extended household with people from another household.
People in extended households are counted as one household and can therefore continue to meet and socialize and stay in each other’s homes despite general restrictions on household mixing.
Couples who do not live together can also form an extended household, which can include any children they live with.
A household may not form an extended household with several people. However, one of them can end the arrangement at any time and – as long as he waits at least 14 days – then form a new extended household with someone else.
If a member of an extended household develops symptoms or tests positive for Covid, everyone in the bubble must self-isolate.
Two households of any size can form a support bubble.
Members can spend time indoors and stay overnight together.
According to the latest restrictions, these bubbles are limited to a maximum of 10 people, including children, at any one time.
Read more from the Northern Ireland Executive here.
Before the last lockdown, schools across the UK were using year group and/or class bubbles to support social distancing and reduce close contact between pupils as much as possible.
Maintaining distinct groups that don’t mix makes it quicker and easier, when a positive case occurs, to identify those who may need to self-isolate and minimize their numbers.
- What happens if someone tests positive at school?
Add Comment