Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
RETURN TO THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Two can meet in park for a drink from March 8 Adult and kid’s sport to resume in England SSE Arena to be huge hub for Ulster vaccine plan
BORIS Johnson is set to allow people to meet a friend for a coffee in a park in two weeks.
It is part of a “cautious” plan the PM will unveil today.
All schools in England are set to re-open on the same day, March 8.
In Northern Ireland, the SSE Arena in Belfast will be used to vaccinate adults aged under 60.
BORIS Johnson will today reveal his “roadmap” for easing lockdown rules in the hope of driving the UK towards a summer of freedom.
The Prime Minister will set out his four-test plan for loosening restrictions in the House of Commons at around 3.30pm after it was approved by Cabinet yesterday.
Initially it is understood England’s schools will all be re-opened on March 8 and two people will be allowed to meet for recreation including a coffee or a picnic in outdoor public spaces.
The “rule of six” is expected to be reintroduced for outdoor gatherings from March 29.
Outdoor sports facilities are expected to be allowed to open that day and organised outdoor sport will be permitted to return.
In April, it is hoped that domestic self-catering holidays will be allowed and that gyms, hairdressers, and nonessential shops will be able to open.
However, it was unclear last night if the devolved power-sharing Nothern Ireland Assembly will diverge from the measures already set out by Health Minister Robin Swann and First Minister Arlene Foster last week.
The Executive extended lockdown in Northern Ireland until April 1 and Education Minister Peter Weir also stated schools will see a phased, stopstart, return beginning with Primary 1 to Primary 3 on March 8.
Mr Johnson’s “roadmap” will include four tests which must all be met before the next step can go ahead. They are:
■ That the vaccine deployment programme continues successfully.
■ That evidence shows jabs are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths in those vaccinated.
■ That infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations which puts unsustainable pressure on the NHS. ■ That the Government’s assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of concern.
He said yesterday: “Our priority has always been getting children back into school which we know is crucial for their education as well as their mental and physical wellbeing and we will also be prioritising ways for people to reunite with loved ones safely.
“Our decisions will be made on the latest data at every step, and we will be cautious about this approach so we do not undo the progress we have achieved so far and the sacrifices each and every one of you has made to keep yourself and others safe.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer said he hoped Mr Johnson would set out a “cautious,
Our decisions will be made on the latest data at every step... We will be cautious BORIS JOHNSON ON ROADMAP FOR RELAXING RESTRICTIONS
careful” exit from lockdown but full return of schools should be the aim.
He wants the plan to be accompanied by an extended business support package and said the scientific evidence should be published.
He said: “We all want this to be the last lockdown so we’ve got to come out of it in a measured way, but make sure we are not back where we started in weeks or months, so roll out slowly, carefully, follow the science.”
The Government said a further 215 had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 in the UK as of Sunday, bringing the total to 120,580. A further 9,834 UK Covid-19 cases were identified taking the total to 4,115,509.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock insisted the Government would take a “cautious” approach to easing lockdown restrictions despite an accelerated target to offer coronavirus vaccines to all adults by the end of July.
He told Sky News: “We want to set out a roadmap which gives people guidance in terms of how we think we’ll be able to do this.
“We’ve currently seen other new variants that thankfully there’s very, very, very few of in this country now, but we’ve got to protect against them.”
Mr Hancock declined to say whether people would be allowed to take holidays this summer despite having booked himself a holiday to Cornwall “ages ago”.
The Health Secretary told the BBC: “The Prime Minister will be setting out more details on all these things.”
Mr Hancock last week said he “hoped” summer breaks would be allowed this year but that “uncerpeople tainty” remained.
Holidaymakers with vaccine passports could be among the first tourists welcomed back to the Balearic Islands, according to reports.
Regional governors urged Spanish tourism minister Maria Reyes Maroto in Madrid to let them start the pilot scheme, which would cover Ibiza, Majorca and Minorca.
Whitehall sources have said the prospect of foreign trips this summer is looking “increasingly positive”.
Mr Starmer said it was “probably inevitable” a vaccine passport would be needed for international travel.
But he said there should be a “national debate” on whether they should be used to unlock freedoms in the UK, such as for entry into pubs.
He added: “Vaccine passports within the UK, I think, is something we need a national debate about. It is very difficult to see how it would work, but let’s tread very, very carefully.
“I’d be very worried, for example, if we got to a situation where it was suggested that people would lose their job if they hadn’t had a vaccine.”