Care homes in Tier 4 areas will not allow hand-holding or hugs for those visiting their elderly relatives amid new restrictions banning close contact.
Department of Health and Social Care guidance says visits to homes in zones with the highest level of restrictions can only take place with substantial screens in place, through windows or in visiting pods.
Vic Rayner, executive director of the National Care Forum, said the move was 'deeply distressing for residents and their loved ones'.
It was also a 'huge blow to all care providers who have spent the last week preparing to enable meaningful visits and spending time on training on the use of lateral flow devices', he told the Guardian.