Around a quarter of the UK is currently facing some kind of lockdown restrictions as coronavirus cases continue to rise once again.
Another 6,914 cases were confirmed in the UK on Thursday, while a further 59 people were confirmed to have died with the virus
Some parts of the country are now facing even tighter restrictions, with a ban on indoor ‘social mixing’ now extended to Liverpool, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesborough.
And in parts of Wales under lockdown nobody is allowed to enter or leave the area except for work, school or medical need.
With that in mind, just what are the current rules around going on holiday or leaving your region to stay with friends or family?
Are you allowed to leave your lockdown region to stay with others?
It largely depends on what the lockdown restrictions are where you live – currently in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland there are no restrictions on travelling to a different part of the country.
However, if you are in an area where indoor mixing with others outside of your household is banned, then you would not be able to stay with friends or family unless you are in a support bubble with them.
If you are in an area where indoor mixing between other households is allowed, you can stay at someone’s house as long as doing so does not break the ‘rule of six’ – that only six people are allowed to meet up indoors, with only a few limited exemptions – and as long as social distancing measures are followed.
If however, you are in the parts of Wales which are under local lockdown, you are not allowed to enter or leave the region except for essential reasons.
These include Cardiff, Swansea, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Caerphilly, Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport, and Blaenau Gwent – with Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy and Wrexham to go into similar lockdown from 6pm on Thursday.
Are you allowed to go on holiday or stay in a hotel in the UK?
Once again, unless you are in an area which you are not allowed to leave, you can go on holiday.
If you live in an area in England or Scotland with local restrictions on mixing indoors in place, you can go on holiday as long as you only socialise indoors with members of your household or support bubble.
You can also stay in a hotel either alone, or you can stay with another household as long as you do not share rooms and do not socialise with them indoors.
If you are not from an area which has restrictions on indoor mixing, you can go on holiday with other people as long as you stick to the rule of six and also practise social distancing and other measures.
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You’re also allowed to holiday in an area which has local lockdown restrictions, as long as you respect the rules of the area and do not stay in accommodation with people outside of your household.
This differs in the parts of Wales currently under local lockdown – you’re not allowed in or out of these regions without a ‘reasonable excuse’ – although you can visit other parts of the country which are not subject to the same restrictions.
That said, the Welsh Government has said: ‘We are not telling people they shouldn’t come to these parts of Wales but we are asking people to think very carefully about making journeys.’
As for holidays abroad, those are also allowed provided you’re not in an area you’re not allowed to enter or leave.
You should bear in mind that there are only a handful of countries you can travel to and from which don’t require you to either be tested for Covid-19 or quarantine on arrival – and unless the country you visit is on the exemption list you’ll have to self-isolate for two weeks upon your return to the UK.
The list of countries exempt from quarantine regulations is also constantly changing – meaning that the advice for the place you’re visiting could change at any time without warning.
MORE : What are the long-term effects of Covid-19?
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