Originally Posted by
Geordie405
The reason I am asking is that I have been advised my by employer that they believe that I am exempt from the need to self-isolate and will therefore be travelling to the UK in the near future. I clearly would like to see family while in the UK and by that I mean actually stay with them as opposed to having a cup of tea in the back garden while we all huddle under umbrellas! If that's what we need to do then that's what we'll do but it would be nice to be able to sit indoors!
I've checked and the consensus seems to be that if you cannot claim the bubble (linked households) argument, and you do not have a legal obligation to self isolate, then in Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas you are not permitted to mix between households, unless one of the more obscure exemptions apply (e.g. escaping an abusive relationship). Again, it isn't so much the wording of assorted SI, it's the intent, it's the desire to do the right thing. In reality you are two households, both in high risk areas, and two households - the highest risk of cross infection that we know about outside marriage ceremonies. Enforcement is another matter, I guess that depends on how many twitching net curtains there are in the neighbourhood.
The good news is that with the North East going into Tier 2 there was a small relaxation that now allows for outdoors contact in certain circumstances, which wasn't allowed previously. On the other hand HMG is watching the North East, where some of the figures are falling. If they go up again then the NE will go into Tier 3.