Couples living apart could be allowed to have sex under new bubble rules

Couples living apart could be allowed to have sex under new bubble rules thumbnail

The Government is planning to change coronavirus restrictions to allow couples who do not live together to have sex.

Currently couples who live apart under tier two and tier three restrictions can only visit each other’s homes if one lives alone, allowing them to form a social bubble.

But officials have been ordered to widen the scope of who can form these bubbles, according the Sun.

The changes are expected to coincide with London moving into a tier three lockdown within a fortnight.

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It would allow people to chose someone from another household to make a social bubble.

But people would be limited to one sexual partner, making things complicated for single people looking to go dating over winter.

A Westminster source accused the Government of being London-centric for only thinking of changing these rules as the capital faces the most severe level of local lockdown.

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It is not clear exactly how the rules will change if Boris Johnson decides to impose a national lockdown as early as Wednesday, as was reported last night.

In June updated Government guidance banned couples staying at each other’s houses overnight ultimately banning sex indoors. 

The rule was lifted in September and it has remained like that for people who live in areas under tier one rules, which still allow members of different households to mix indoors. The nationwide ‘rule of six’ on social gatherings still applies.

Although a recent Imperial College London study shows the capital’s R rate could be as high as 2.86, estimating about 96,000 new infections a day, it is between 1.1 and 1.3, according to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).

In the last seven days, 13,879 Londoners have tested positive for coronavirus. bringing the city’s rate of infection per 100,000 people to 154.9.

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