Lockdown finishes on July 4, says Johnson
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has begun the process of freeing England from lockdown, declaring ‘‘our great national hibernation is coming to an end’’.
The bulk of the country’s hospitality, leisure and tourism industries will be able to restart from July 4 as the coronavirus infection rate continues to fall. Pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas can open if they are deemed to be safe.
To allow them to operate, Johnson announced that the two-metre social distancing rule will be replaced by a new ‘‘one-metre plus’’ regime, insisting that mitigations such as face coverings gave a ‘‘broadly equivalent’’ protection at the shorter distance.
As he laid out the easing of the ‘‘toughest restrictions in peacetime history’’, the prime minister was cheered by Conservative MPs and backed by Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, who said that the government was ‘‘trying to do the right thing’’.
The new guidance allows two households to gather indoors in unlimited numbers as long as social distancing is observed. Different households can meet at different times.
Overnight stays in private and holiday accommodation are allowed, as are camping and indoor eating and drinking in venues deemed ‘‘Covid-secure’’.
Up to 30 people will be allowed to attend wedding ceremonies. The numbers able to attend funerals and other religious services will be dependent on the socially distanced capacity of the place of worship.
Businesses that reopen must implement a range of mitigations. Those visiting pubs and restaurants, for example, will be asked to leave their names to enable contact tracing in the event of coronavirus outbreaks.
Johnson’s scientific and medical advisers expressed fears that the widerthan-expected liberalisation would lead to a resurgence of the virus if it caused people to abandon social distancing altogether. It is understood that he was presented by the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies with two options for the latest relaxations: another phased reopening or a more comprehensive version.
The prime minister chose the latter option despite fears that if it goes wrong it would be harder to discern which of the changes restarted the epidemic, potentially putting Britain back in the situation it faced in March. –