The Prime Minister has reinstated the advice for people to work from home if they can, following an increase in the incidence of Coronavirus in recent weeks.
The advice, which was first issued in March 2020, was withdrawn at the beginning of August, with people encouraged to return to city centre offices as part of an effort to bolster businesses, such as shops, cafes and coffee shops that depend on trade from office workers.
Since then, many businesses have invested heavily in making offices COVID Secure, with changes to layouts, the introduction of screens, increased cleaning regimes and one-way systems amongst the measures introduced.
The Prime Minister underlined that people who cannot work from home, such as retail and construction workers, should continue to attend their places of work as usual.
The new guidance is expected to be in place for up to six months.