Travel guidance amended for areas with high incidence of Indian variant

The Government has changed the travel guidance that applies to areas with the new variant (often referred to as the variant first identified in India). It is spreading fastest in:

• Bedford Borough Council
• Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
• Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
• Burnley Borough Council
• Kirklees Council
• Leicester City Council
• London Borough of Hounslow
• North Tyneside Council

The updated guidance now reads:

In the areas listed above, wherever possible, you should try to:

meet outside rather than inside where possible

keep 2 metres apart from people that you don’t live with (unless you have formed a support bubble with them), this includes friends and family you don’t live with

minimise travel in and out of affected areas

This is a change from last week’s guidance which said that people should only travel in or out of these areas for essential reasons.  This means that there is no requirement for customers or businesses to cancel bookings.

The Government’s latest guidance on areas where the new is spreading can be accessed here.