COVID-19 restrictions

Last updated: 15 June 2021 at 8.15am

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in a televised press conference last night (Monday 14 June) that there would be a delay to the lifting of COVID-restrictions under the government's roadmap out of lockdown for England.

Instead of moving from step three to step four of the roadmap next Monday (21 June), a four-week pause was announced. This means that we remain at step three until Monday 19 July.

The decision was prompted by concerns that the Delta variant of COVID-19 is now spreading faster than the third wave predicted in the February roadmap - growing by about 64 per cent per week. The average number of people being admitted to hospital in England has increased by 50 per cent week on week. The delay to further lifting of restrictions will give the NHS the chance to vaccinate more people.

The prime minister said the data will be monitored and that if after two weeks the risk has diminished then there is the possibility of proceeding to step four and full opening sooner.

The guidance has been updated, reiterating the restrictions and what we can and cannot do, including:

You must wear a face covering in many indoor settings, such as shops and places of worship, and on public transport, unless you are exempt or have a reasonable excuse.
You can meet up indoors with friends and family you do not live with, either in a group of up to six from any number of households (children of all ages count towards the limit of six) or in a group of any size from up to two households (each household can include an existing support bubble, if eligible).
If you are meeting friends and family, you can make a personal choice on whether to keep your distance from them, but you should still be cautious. You should read the guidance on meeting friends and family.
Most restrictions on meeting people outdoors have been lifted, but gatherings must not exceed 30 people unless covered by a legal exemption.
You should continue to work from home where you can.

However, some restrictions will change on 21 June, with changes then to the rules on:

weddings and civil partnership ceremonies and wedding receptions or civil partnership celebrations
commemorative events following a death such as a wake, stone setting or ash scattering
large events pilots
care home visits
domestic residential visits for children.

Hands, face, space, air

To help control the virus and protect yourself and others, when you leave home you must:

wash hands - keep washing your hands regularly
cover face - wear a face covering over your nose and mouth in enclosed spaces
make space - stay at least a metre away from people not in your household

Meeting outside is the safest way to see others, but if you need to let a tradesperson or other visitor into your home, you should always open windows to let fresh air in.

If you are feeling unwell, get a test and do not leave home for at least 10 days.

Visit the government webpages for the latest guidance and information.

Coronavirus outbreak FAQs, what you can and can't do
NHS advice about coronavirus (COVID-19), including what to do if you think you have it and how to reduce your chances of getting it
Guidance on use of face coverings on public transport
Find coronavirus help and support

Community testing

From Monday 26 April, residents across the borough can access free supervised testing or self-testing home kits from pharmacies across Hampshire.

Regular, twice weekly testing is being encouraged for everyone without symptoms, to help identify more positive cases and break chains of transmission.

In Hampshire, over 200 pharmacies are providing the national collection scheme and from Monday, over 40 of these pharmacies will also be offering on-site supervised lateral flow testing. This is a drop-in service but anyone wishing to have a supervised test is advised to phone ahead where possible, to enable pharmacy staff to schedule appointments and reduce waiting times.

Details of the pharmacies in the borough taking part in this scheme can be found on Hampshire County Council's website.

The borough’s symptomatic testing site, now located at Churchill Way long stay car park, will also continue to offer test kit collection for people without symptoms from 2.30pm to 8pm, alongside the pharmacy scheme.

Lateral flow testing and the test kit collection scheme are for people without symptoms. Anyone with symptoms of coronavirus must book a PCR test by visiting the GOV.UK website or by calling 119.

For further information about getting a test for coronavirus and the local tracing service in Hampshire please visit Hampshire County Council's website.

Hampshire COVID-19 data

Keep up to date on how coronavirus is affecting Hampshire

Council updates

Council meetings

All committee, Cabinet and Council meetings are now held virtually and are live streamed on the council's website in the same way as they would normally be webcast to allow residents to watch the committee meetings live.

Find out more information on upcoming virtual council meetings.

Service updates

Find out the latest updates and further information on how our services have been affected by COVID-19.

Community hub

Working with Basingstoke Voluntary Action and others, we are helping coordinate community support during the pandemic.

Get information on the support available for communities, including the careline set up to support vulnerable residents.

Council tax support

Following the government’s announcement of a new Hardship Fund to help vulnerable residents pay their council tax, we received further guidance on the measures and implemented some changes.

Read the latest information on the changes to help vulnerable residents pay their council tax.

Business advice, support and guidance

The government has put in place a number of measures to support businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have a webpage with advice and support for businesses

Guidance in different languages

View the guidance in different languages for people having to self-isolate with COVID-19 (or suspected) on the GOV.UK website.

Guidance on social distancing measures is also available in different languages on the GOV.UK website.

Information on restrictions in place are now available in Slovak, Polish, Bangla (Bengali), Welsh, Urdu, Arabic, Hindi, Gujarati, Somali, Persian (Farsi) and Punjabi (Gurmukhi).

British Sign Language

Find out about coronavirus information in British Sign Language.

COVID-19 posters and information in 18 different languages

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has created a collection of COVID-19 information sheets in multiple languages to display in venues across the town.

These are available below and translated into the following languages: Polish, Punjabi, Urdu, Chinese, Guajarati. Russian, Nepalese, Malayalam, Bulgarian, French, Hindi, Romanian, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Tamil and Arabic.

COVID-19 poster in Arabic(PDF) [189 kb]