Boris Johnson cancels wedding receptions as he hits brakes on lockdown easing amid coronavirus rise
WEDDING receptions will not be allowed to resume from tomorrow as Boris Johnson announced he is hitting the brakes on lockdown easing.
From tomorrow, couples were to be allowed wedding receptions with up to 30 people as long as social distancing measures were observed.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
Ceremonies will still be allowed to go ahead but full-day celebrations will now be put on hold until at least August 15.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference today, the PM announced the easing will not be going ahead along with a series of other measures set to be introduced tomorrow.
He said: “Weddings receptions of up to 30 people will not be permitted. We simply cannot take the risk.
“Indoor performances will not resume, pilots of larger crowds in sport venues and conference centres will not take place and wedding receptions of up to 30 people will not be permitted, but ceremonies, of course, can continue to take place in line with Covid secure guidelines.”
Wedding receptions can only be attended by people from a maximum of two different households – effectively banning parties.
The strict guidance means fathers cannot walk their daughter arm-in-arm down the aisle, unless they live in the same home.
But they can still walk side-by-side as long as they are at least one-metre apart.
The guidance states that “all parties should adhere to social distancing guidelines” with everyone asked to remain two-metres apart or one-metre with “risk mitigation where two metres is not viable”. But the guidelines are not legally enforceable.
There were around 0.78 new Covid-19 infections for every 10,000 people in England last week – equal to around 4,200 new cases per day.
This is up from an estimated 2,800 new cases a day the previous week.
From August 1, staff were set to be told to return to workplaces unless they couldn’t work from home.
Casinos, bowling alleys and skating rinks were also to be allowed to reopen and indoor gigs were also set to resume.
Certain beauty treatments involving close contact such as make-up application and eyebrow threading were also set to return.