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Sitting on a park bench for a “short break” during exercise is reasonable, but leaving the house only to sit in public is illegal under coronavirus rules, Downing Street has clarified.
The British government drew criticism earlier after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman could not confirm whether a single person could sit on a bench under the restrictions.
However, a government source has clarified that while a “brief break during the exercise would be reasonable”, it would be “illegal to leave the house just to sit in public.”
Johnson’s official spokesman was pressed on the restrictions during a briefing in Westminster this afternoon.
He was also asked if people can have takeaway teas or coffees in public, and said that “people can go out of their houses if it is to exercise, not to socialize.
When asked if anyone can sit on a park bench and have coffee under current coronavirus regulations, the spokesperson said: “We have clearly established the rules.
“We have been clear in exempting the stay-at-home rule: we allow one person to meet another to exercise.”
When asked if walking outside with a tea to go is against the rules, the spokesperson said: “Going for a walk obviously counts as exercise.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock later emphasized that people should stay six feet apart if they are going to walk with another person.
He said at a press conference in Downing Street: “Yes, you can go exercise in the park with one other person, but only with one other person.”
“And we’ve been seeing large groups and that’s not acceptable. And you must be six feet away from the other person.
“If there are too many people who break this rule, we will have to analyze it.
“But I don’t want to do that because, for many people who can go for a walk with a friend, that is often their only social contact.
“It’s okay to go for a walk with someone else in a park, but you should stay six feet from that other person.”
Police have vowed to step up action against people they believe are disobeying Covid restrictions.
However, Derbyshire Police apologized and rescinded the £ 200 fines issued to two women who traveled to a reservoir for a walk about five miles from their homes.
The force previously described Jessica Allen and Eliza Moore’s trip as “clearly not in the spirit of the national effort” to reduce travel and the possible spread of the coronavirus.
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