Government guidelines quietly updated last week reversed a June decision on household mixing that made it illegal for people who do not live together to have sex.

People who do not live together must socially distance when they see each other unless they fall under limited exemptions – including an ‘established relationship’.

The guidance does not clarify what is meant by ‘established’. The guidance also says people do not need to socially distance from those in their support bubbles.

The nation was banned from hooking up with each other when national lockdown hit – then areas placed under local lockdowns were again told not to mix households in the North East of England, the North West, parts of the Midlands and parts of Wales.

Under Manchester’s local lockdown rules, couples who live apart are not allowed to have sex in their own houses but are allowed to meet at hotels.

Romantic relationships have been tested throughout the crisis with couples urged to move in together or stay apart during the full lockdown in March.

Six in ten Britons went without any sexual activity during lockdown, according to researchers at Anglia Ruskin University.

Boris Johnson today announced new restrictions that could be in place for the next six months unless cases and deaths dramatically improve.

The PM asked workers to return to a working from home model, limited weddings to a maximum of 15 people, made face masks compulsory in more settings, axed plans to bring crowds back to live sports matches and doubled fines for people flouting the rules.