We hadn’t intended meeting until the 8th of January but at the last minute I sent out emails to see if there was anyone wanting a chat today. Jumping from tier 3 into tier 4 on the 31st of December put paid to any thoughts of meeting people to celebrate New Year. And Christmas had been a much smaller and quieter celebration than we had been expecting. So, some cheering up was called for. After all, New Year’s Day should be marked even if it’s in a very small way and way different to how we’d marked it in the past. It was very interesting to hear how Maggie had spent Hogmanay when she was a wee lassie.

For those who’ve been hibernating recently and others who, like me, can no longer remember what can and can’t be done because the rules and tiers keep being changed, here’s the latest:

What are the restrictions in tier four?

The restrictions are similar to the last national lockdown and include:

• Residents should stay at home, unless they have a “reasonable excuse” such as work or education
• All non-essential shops must close
• Hairdressers and nail bars must close
• Indoor entertainment venues must close
• Gyms and indoor swimming pools, indoor sports courts and dance studios must close
• You cannot meet other people indoors, unless you live with them or they are part of your support bubble
• People should not leave tier four areas or travel abroad, except for limited reasons (including work and education)
• Weddings and civil partnership ceremonies are only allowed in exceptional circumstances

“Clinically extremely vulnerable” people in tier four areas are advised to stay at home “as much as possible”. The government says if they can’t work from home, they shouldn’t go to work.

What can you do in tier four?

Activities still allowed include:

• Meeting one other person from another household in an open public space, if you are both alone
• Shopping for essentials such as food and medicine
• Outdoor pools, playgrounds, sports courts, golf courses and horse riding centres can open
• You can leave home for work, education, training, childcare and for medical appointments and emergencies
• Communal religious worship
• Support bubbles are still allowed and children can move between separated parents

(Above tier four info taken from the BBC website)

Let’s hope that these further restrictions will help to keep infections down or at least apply some brakes to the rate. There is some good news – with vaccines now being available and in the process of being rolled out, the future is beginning to look a lot brighter.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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