Visits in areas under new highest restriction must take place from behind screens or through windows
Hopes for hugs and hand-holding in care homes this Christmas have been dashed in swathes of south-east and eastern England by new tier 4 rules banning close-contact indoor visits.
Guidance issued last night by the Department of Health and Social Care said visits to care homes in tier 4 areas can from today only take place behind substantial screens, in visiting pods or through windows. The emergence of a new, more transmissible strain of Covid-19 has also raised fears about the ongoing safety of close-contact visits outside tier 4, enabled by rapid testing, which does not detect all positive cases.
