The new Covid-19 lockdown rules in detail

Here is a breakdown of the new rules, in detail, set to be put in place on Thursday.

Staying at home

Everyone in England will, from Thursday, not be allowed to leave their home except for a specific purpose.

You are allowed to leave your home for childcare or education purposes - where this education is not already provided online.

You are allowed to leave home for work, if your place of work is still open and you cannot work from home.

You are allowed to exercise outdoors or visit an outdoor public place, however you are only allowed to do this with the people you already live with, or with someone from your support bubble.

If you are on your own, you are allowed to visit an outdoor public place or exercise outdoors with one person from another household.

You are allowed to leave your home for any medical concerns, reasons, appointments or emergencies - or to avoid or escape risk of injury or harm, for instance to escape domestic abuse.

You are allowed to leave your home for shopping for basic necessities only. Examples would include for food or for medicine. You should do this as infrequently as possible.

You are allowed to leave your home to visit members of your support bubble, or to provide care for vulnerable people - or to fulfill a voluntary caring role.

The Government has stressed that this list is "not exhaustive".

"There are other limited circumstances where you may be permitted to leave or be outside of your home. These will be set out in law and further detailed guidance will be provided," Government guidance states.

Social distancing

You should minimise time spent outside your home.

Whe you are outside, you should ensure that you are two metres apart from anyone not in your household, or in your support bubble.

This two metre rule is reduced to one metre in indoor settings with extra precautions in place, such as when face coverings are worn or increased ventilation is present.

Meeting with others

You are not allowed to socialise with family or friends indoors, unless you already live with them.

The exception to this is that you are allowed to meet with your support bubble.

A support bubble is a close support network between a household with only one adult in the home, known as a single-adult household, and one other household of any size.

The Government has said that "once you are in a support bubble, you can think of yourself as being in a single household with people from the other household.

"It means you can have close contact with that household as if they were members of your own household.

"Once you make a support bubble, you should not change who is in your bubble."

You can exercise or visit outdoor public places with the people you live with, your support bubble, or one person from another household.

Outdoor public places include: parks, beaches, the countryside, public gardens, allotments, and playgrounds.

You cannot meet in a private garden.

Businesses and venues

The following are being ordered to close:

• All non-essential retail, including, but not limited to clothing and electronics stores, vehicle showrooms, travel agents, betting shops, auction houses, tailors, car washes, tobacco and vape shops.

• Indoor and outdoor leisure facilities such as bowling alleys, leisure centres and gyms, sports facilities including swimming pools, golf courses and driving ranges, dance studios, stables and riding centres, soft play facilities, climbing walls and climbing centres, archery and shooting ranges, water and theme parks,

• Entertainment venues such as theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums and galleries, casinos, adult gaming centres and arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, concert halls, zoos and other animal attractions, botanical gardens;

• Personal care facilities such as hair, beauty and nail salons, tattoo parlours, spas, massage parlours, body and skin piercing services, non-medical acupuncture, and tanning salons.

Food shops, supermarkets, garden centres and certain other retailers providing essential goods and services can remain open.

Shops that are allowed to remain open must follow Covid-secure guidelines.

Non-essential retail can remain open for delivery to customers and click-and-collect, and playgrounds can remain open.

Hospitality venues like restaurants, bars and pubs must close, but can still provide takeaway and delivery services.

The takeaway sale of alcohol will not be allowed.

Hotels, hostels and other accommodation should only open for those who have to travel for work purposes and for a limited number of other exemptions which will be set out in law.

A full list of the business closures will be published and set out in law.

Some venues will be allowed to remain open for specific exempt activities, like childcare and support groups.

The following public services will stay open:

• Hospitals and GP practices;
• Jobcentre Plus sites;
• Courts;
• Civil Registrations Offices.

Weddings, civil partnerships, religious services and funerals

Funerals can be attended by a maximum of 30 people.

It is "advised" that only close friends and family attend.

Ceremonial events such as stone settings and ash scatterings can also continue with up to 15 people in attendance.

Staff in attendance are not included in that number.

Weddings and civil partnership ceremonies will not be allowed to take place, except in exceptional circumstances.

Places of Worship will be closed, unless they are being used for:

• Funerals;
• To broadcast acts of worship;
• Individual prayer;
• Formal childcare or where part of a school;
• Essential voluntary and public services, such as blood donation or food banks;
• Other exempted activities such as some support groups.

Travel

You should avoid all non-essential travel by private or public transport.

Essential travel includes, but is not limited to:

• essential shopping;
• travelling to work where your workplace is open or you cannot work from home;
• travelling to education and for caring responsibilities;
• hospital GP and other medical appointments or visits where you have had an accident or are concerned about your health.

If you need to travel the Government is encouraging you to reduce the number of journeys you make, walk or cycle where possible, or to plan ahead and avoid busy times and routes on public transport.

Overnight stays and holidays away from primary residences will not be allowed- including holidays in the UK and abroad.

This includes staying in a second home, if you own one, or staying with anyone you do not live with or are in a support bubble with.

There are specific exceptions, for example if you need to stay away from home (including in a second home) for work purposes.

You must not travel if you are experiencing any coronavirus symptoms, are self-isolating as a result of coronavirus symptoms, are sharing a household or support bubble with somebody with symptoms, or have been told to self-isolate after being contacted by NHS Test and Trace.

If you need to use public transport, you should wear a face covering and socially distance.

Financial support

Workers in any part of the UK can retain their job, even if their employer cannot afford to pay them, and be paid at least 80 per cent of their salary - up to £2500 a month.

The flexibility of the current furlough scheme will be retained to allow employees to continue to work where they can.

The Job Support Scheme set to be introduced tomorrow will not be introduced until after the furlough scheme ends.

The workplace

Everyone who can work effectively from home must do so.

Where people cannot do so (for instance people who work in critical national infrastructure, construction or manufacturing) they should continue to travel to work and attend their workplace.

Public sector employees working in essential services, including education settings, should continue to go into work .

Schools, colleges and universities

Schools, colleges and universities will stay open.

It is planned that exams will go ahead next summer. Most AS, A Level and GCSE exams will be held three weeks later than originally planned to help accommodate the disruption caused by Covid-19.

Universities and adult education settings should consider moving to increased levels of online learning where possible.

If you live at university, you must not move back and forward between your permanent home and student home during term time.

You should only return home at the end of term for Christmas.

Childcare and children’s activities

Parents will still be able to access some registered childcare and other childcare activities (including wraparound care) where reasonably necessary to enable parents to work, or for the purposes of respite care.

Early years settings are allowed to stay open.

Parents are able to form a childcare bubble with another household for the purposes of informal childcare, where the child is 13 or under.

Some youth services may be able to continue, such as 1-1 youth work and support groups, but most youth clubs and groups will need to close.

Vulnerable people

People who are "clinically vulnerable" are advised to be particularly careful, to minimise their contact with others and wash their hands more frequently.

Clinically vulnerable people are those who are:

• aged 70 or over (regardless of medical conditions)
• under 70 with an underlying health condition listed below (that is, anyone instructed to get a flu jab each year on medical grounds):
• chronic (long-term) mild to moderate respiratory diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema or bronchitis
• chronic heart disease, such as heart failure
• chronic kidney disease
• chronic liver disease, such as hepatitis
• chronic neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis (MS) or cerebral palsy
• diabetes
• a weakened immune system as the result of certain conditions or medicines they are taking (such as steroid tablets)
• being seriously overweight (a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or above)
• pregnant

Those who are classed as "clinically extremely vulnerable" will be contacted by the Government with detailed advice on what to do.

Those who are in this category are advised to work from home, and if this is not possible these individuals may be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) or Employment Support Allowance (ESA).

People in this category are encouraged to stay at home as much as possible.

Care homes

Guidance on care home visits will be published by the Government before Thursday.