The coronavirus lockdown may have unintentionally sparked a wave of awkward conversations within new relationships, after the government told couples who do not cohabit that they must either not meet at all, or else rapidly move in together.
The clarification came from Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer, who was asked at the regular Downing Street press conference on Tuesday whether couples who lived apart could socialise at all under the new restrictions intended to slow the spread of the virus.
“I’m clearly going to start a new career here in relationship counselling, so I will tread very carefully as I work through this answer,” Harries began, explaining that the principle of the lockdown, announced on Monday night, was for people to stay in their household units.
Under the new rules, people must stay at home unless shopping for necessities, working if they cannot do this remotely, attending to medical matters, caring for vulnerable people, or exercising – with no close contact allowed with people not in the immediate household.
The lockdown will be reviewed after three weeks, but the expectation is that there will be no significant loosening of the rules until May or June at the earliest.
What do the new restrictions involve?
People in the UK will only be allowed to leave their home for the following purposes:
- Shopping for basic necessities, as infrequently as possible
- One form of exercise a day – for example a run, walk, or cycle – alone or with members of your household
- Any medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person
- Travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home
Police will have the powers to enforce the rules, including through fines and dispersing gatherings. To ensure compliance with the instruction to stay at home, the government will:
- Close all shops selling non-essential goods, including clothing and electronic stores and other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship
- Stop all gatherings of more than two people in public – excluding people you live with
- Stop all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals
Parks will remain open for exercise, but gatherings will be dispersed.
“If the two halves of a couple are currently in separate households, ideally they should stay in those households,” Harries said.
“The alternative might be that, for quite a significant period going forwards, they should test the strength of their relationship and decide whether one wishes to be permanently resident in another household.”
What the government did not want, Harries said, was “people switching in and out of households – it defeats the purpose of the reduction in social interaction, and will allow transmission of disease”.
She added: “So perhaps, test really carefully your strength of feeling, stay with the household, either together or apart, but keep it that way while we go forward, because otherwise we will not all be working towards achieving our outcome.”
If that was not clear enough Matt Hancock, the health secretary, who was leading the press conference, added: “There you go. Make your choice and stick with it.”
The event was the first virtual press conference held, to keep within the rules about avoiding all contact. Journalists were able to ask questions, but did so via video link, with Hancock, Harries and the third speaker, Stephen Powis, the medical director of NHS England, while watching them on a TV screen.
Adding to the distancing regime, the lecterns at which the three speakers stood much further apart than at earlier press conferences.
