Hope for new parents in York and North Yorkshire to reunite with loved ones

Limited indoor mixing is allowed from May 17th at the earliest.

Author: Benjamin FearnPublished 23rd Feb 2021

It's hoped the children of new mums and dads in York and North Yorkshire will be able to see other family members soon.

From March 29th the "rule of six" will be re introduced alongside the two household rule. The "rule of six" means that up to six people from different households can meet outside.

More people will be able gather together if they are only from two households, giving greater flexibility for families and friends.

From May 17th at earliest, two households or groups of up to six people can mix indoors and limited crowds will be allowed to return to sporting events. Children's play areas will be opened alongside hotels, and limited groups will be allowed in theatres.

Laura Harris is from Malton and gave birth during the first lockdown last year. She told Greatest Hits Radio York: "It brings a little bit of hope and maybe a bit of normality before the Summer.

"It'll be nice to have a birthday party for the boys when we can in the Summer, and can hopefully start seeing some of the social things coming back. With school being back on the 8th of March that'll be great for our eldest, but baby Jacob hasn't really seen other babies at all - it'll be really nice for him to get socialising.

"We have a few concerns with social distancing still being in place for when outdoor meetings are allowed with more households.

"It's quite a difficult thing to achieve with little kids, but it be really nice to see people - even at a distance.

"We've really missed all of our family, including grandparents who we've not seen since October now. The boys have really missed out; they've had things like FaceTime, but nothing comes close to actually having hugs and seeing people.

"May seems like such a long way away, but I'm sure it'll be here before we know it. Jacob is crawling now and busy all the time; you can take as many videos as you want to put on Facebook, but nothing beats actually having family see him in person.

"He's not formed the early relationships with family like our eldest has, so there's lots of catching up to do".