Since the start of the Covid 19 pandemic Governments have introduced measures to curtail social interaction then realising the potential damage to the mental health of individuals living on their own have put in place measures to help them. The problem is with other measures changing so has the situation of bubbles it really is a case of some bubbles are more equal than others. So where do they stand today.
Lets start with the oldest this is the "support bubble"1 this was the first bubble introduced and is the most resilient. This allows for 2 single person households of a single person and another household to link together to form a resilient support bubble. Once this link occurs it is permanent and exclusive. It allows you to visit each other and behave as if you were a single household in respect of legislation. Travel between locations is permitted as are interactions within the house. Where possible it is advised for these bubbles to be local as travel between areas of difference disease incidence can pose additional risks. these rules apply even under level 4 restrictions
The second bubble is the "Extended household"2 this has had a number of iterations but at the heart of all of them is the idea that larger households can for an exclusive bubble. The same concepts as the support bubble apply in general and the permanence is the same however this is subject to change and suspension depending on the rates of infection at any given point. Under current level 4 rules this is suspended.
Finally there was the "Christmas bubble".3 This comprised 2 households or 2 bubbles or 2 households and a single person household for Christmas Day only. This was intended as a short relaxation of rules to allow small (3 household) gatherings over 5 days outside the usual rules but was curtailed significantly due to the acceleration of infection across large parts of the UK in December and the emergence of a more infectious variant of the virus.
So as of today (27th Dec) only the Support Bubble is valid at the moment and contact can be continued as before.
Sources
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