SINGLE people will be forced to choose between having sex or seeing their parents as the lockdown is eased to allow “social support bubbles”.
Earlier today Boris Johnson announced plans for “single bubbles” that will allow people to meet up from the weekend.
The Prime Minister’s latest lifting of restrictions in England means people who live alone will be allowed to join one other household from Saturday.
But singles will be forced to choose their one social bubble, picking either their family or their lover.
The move, which applies only to England, will allow people who live alone and single parents with children to form a “support bubble” with one other household.
They can visit each other’s homes, stay overnight and will no longer have to stay two metres apart — allowing lovers who live separately to be intimate for the first time in 12 weeks.
The changes will benefit up to eight million people who live on their own and another 2.9million single-parent families.
But the arrangements must be exclusive — meaning people cannot mix with more than one other household.
Despite the latest lifting of restrictions the Government’s chief scientific adviser urged caution, warning that the “vast majority of the population remains susceptible to the infection”.
‘MANY LONELY OR ISOLATED PEOPLE’
Sir Patrick Vallance said: “It urges going slowly with changes and it urges measuring very carefully to see the impact and being prepared to reverse things where measures have been taken that have an impact on this, and importantly means looking for outbreaks locally and dealing with those fast.”
And in a stern warning not to lift lockdown too quickly, chief medical officer Chris Whitty said: “We are not at the end of this epidemic, not by a long shot. We are in the middle of it.”
The changes coming in on Saturday are designed to help the country’s “many lonely or isolated people” who are seen as hardest hit by the lengthy lockdown.
The PM said: “I know how difficult the past months have been for people cut off from their friends and family.
“There are still too many people, particularly those who live by themselves, who are lonely and struggling with being unable to see friends and family.
“From this weekend, we will allow single adult households — so adults living alone or single parents with children under 18 — to form a ‘support bubble’ with one other household.
‘CANNOT SWITCH BUBBLE’
“All those in a support bubble will be able to act as if they live in the same household — meaning they can spend time together inside each other’s homes and do not need to stay two metres apart.
“I want to stress that support bubbles must be exclusive — meaning you cannot switch the household you are in a bubble with or connect with multiple households.
“And if any member of the support bubble develops symptoms, all members of the bubble will need to follow the normal advice on household isolation.”
But the plans will not apply to people in the “critically vulnerable” category, who will need to continue to stay shielded.
No 10 promised updated advice for the shielding category will be published soon.