City’s public health chief explains how Covid-19 ‘support bubbles’ work

In the latest of her video updates via Youtube, Dr Liz Robin, Director of Public Health for Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council, has outlined how the new ‘support bubbles’ work, and how they are designed to make it easier to reconnect with loved ones, friends and family.

She says this is seen as so important for families to reconnect with older relatives and can make all the difference to someone who has been living alone and may have been experiencing a challenging time mentally during lockdown.

Dr Robin explains: “You can form a household support bubble with another household if you live alone or are a single parent with children - in other words you are in a household with only one adult.”

She said this bubble would enable those within it to act as if they are all living under one roof, spending time together inside each other’s homes without having to stay two metres apart.

Dr Robin warned that those classed as clinically extremely vulnerable and have been shielding should not form a social bubble and should carry on following shielding advice.

She also warned that if anyone develops Covid-19 symptoms, everyone in their support bubble should stay at home and self-isolate.

If a member of a household or bubble is contacted by the Test and Trace system having been identified as someone who has been in close contact with another person with the virus, that individual should stay at home. If that member of the bubble develops symptoms the whole social bubble should likewise self isolate.

Dr Robin said: “This is critical to staying safe and saving lives.”

More information about support bubbles and some general frequently asked questions and answers on the guidelines are available online here.