Social distancing means maintaining distance between yourself and other people outside of your home or outside of your support bubble. Everyone in the UK must practice social distancing to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
In line with national restrictions in England, everyone must stay at home except for work (if it cannot be done from home), education, childcare, shopping for essential items, carrying out important administrative or legal functions, medical reasons, exercise or to care for others.
Households must not mix indoors or in private gardens, unless it is in a work, volunteer, education or childcare capacity or for particular key life ceremonies. You can meet one person from outside their household in an outdoor public space. Support bubbles for single households and childcare support bubbles are allowed to continue. Take a look at the government guidance here for further information.
In Wales, following the short, sharp national firebreak introduced to help regain control of COVID-19 which has now come to an end, you are asked to:
Extended support households for single households can continue. Take a look at the government guidance here for further information.
To help stop the spread of COVID-19 you should continue to:
If you or someone in your household have COVID-19 symptoms or if any of you have been identified as 'clinically extremely vulnerable' please take a look at our self-isolation and shielding pages for further information.
If you have Huntington's disease and find it difficult to maintain social distancing, you may find the below Government produced resources useful to signal to those around you that they need to give you space.
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The government has produced card templates and mobile phone images to be used if you or a loved one has difficulties or concerns in maintaining social distancing. |
Wearing a face covering helps to stop the spread of COVID-19. Even if you are wearing a mask or face covering, you should still keep your distance and follow good hygiene.
In England people, over the age of 11 years, are required by law to wear a face mask or covering in many indoor settings. You can see the full list here. In Wales, face coverings must be worn in all indoor spaces. You can read more here.
There are some limited exemptions to the wearing of face masks and this includes:
If you are able to wear a face mask you should, as this offers the most protection. However, if you or a someone you know has Huntington's disease and would find wearing a face mask or face covering difficult for one of the reasons above, the following exemption cards and resources may be useful to help explain Huntington's disease to anyone that might challenge the fact that a mask isn't being worn. The use of such cards is a personal choice and is not necessary by law.
If you have Huntington's or someone you know has Huntington's and wearing a mask is possible but perhaps it is uncomfortable or difficult to remember to wear one, you could try the following strategies before deciding not to wear a mask and using an exemption card:
A face covering is not the same as the medical-grade surgical masks used by healthcare and other workers as part of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Face masks and coverings are now widely available to purchase in a number of shops, supermarkets and pharmacies in both disposable and reusable formats. Alternatively, you can use a bandana, a scarf or make your own - the government has provided guidance on how to do this here. If you already wear a religious garment that covers your mouth and nose, this counts as a face covering for this purpose and you do not have to wear another.
When using face masks and face coverings it is important to wash your hands before putting them on and taking them off. If your mask / covering is reusable you should wash it after each use.
The Huntington's Disease Association has a new range of face masks and face coverings which will be available to purchase from our online shop now. Please note our face masks and face coverings are not medical grade and should not and do not take the place of PPE equipment. They are single-ply. You should not rely on our face masks or face coverings alone to protect you from COVID-19. You should continue to follow all government guidance including maintaining social distancing and practising good hand hygiene.
In England and Wales, you can create a support bubble with one other household if you wish to, but one of the households in the ‘support bubble’ should be a single adult household (i.e an adult living alone or with children under 18 only). You can spend time together outside and inside each other’s homes, including overnight, without needing to socially distance.
Guidance on social contact is changing frequently with national and local restrictions in place. We recommend you follow current government guidance for England and Wales on their respective web pages.
There are precautions you should take when you do spend time outside of your home:
With national and local restrictions in place at different times, we recommend you follow current government guidance for England and Wales on their respective web pages.