Flock to stores to bag Wales is still waiting
customers.
He told BBC Breakfast: “The high street is going to be a different place to what it was before, with the one-way systems, with the hand sanitisers, and with people not trying clothes on in the same way.
“But, none the less, it is safe to shop. I would encourage people to be sensible, work with the people in the shop, but do go out and shop, and start opening our economy gradually and carefully.”
Commuters were pictured wearing masks at stations and on trains and buses across England as face coverings on public transport became mandatory.
In Wales, face coverings are currently recommended on public transport, but are not mandatory.
Meanwhile, England’s zoos and safari parks were also welcoming back visitors for the first time since March.
With official figures showing the economy shrank by a fifth in April, ministers are desperate to get businesses going again to stave off another wave of job losses.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged some people may be nervous about returning to the high street after so long away but insisted they “should shop and shop with confidence”.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak – who is reported to be considering a VAT cut to stimulate spending – acknowledged further redundancies were inevitable as the government’s furlough scheme begins to unwind.
Ministers are under intense pressure from Conservative MPs to go further by easing the two-metre socialdistancing rule in England so the hardpressed hospitality sector can also reopen.
Mr Johnson confirmed at the weekend that he had ordered a “comprehensive” Downing Street review of the regulation, and his official spokesman confirmed it will be completed in the “coming weeks”.
The Prime Minister has said the falling numbers of Covid-19 cases meant there was a greater “margin for manoeuvre” as the chances of coming into contact with someone with the disease diminished.
Mr Sunak has said it would be ministers, not scientists, who would make the decisions on any easing, but the PM’s spokesman said the review “will draw on advice from scientific and medical experts as well as economists and papers from Sage”.
It was reported to be scheduled to be completed by July 4, the date slated by the UK Government for the hospitality sector to start welcoming back customers.
The hospitality sector over the border has welcomed the review, warning that it will simply not be viable for them to reopen unless the social-distancing rule is cut to no more than one metre.
Katie Nicholls, chief executive of trade union UKHospitality, called for the government to provide more clarity and guidance for the sector in England regarding reopening, a call echoed by Labour’s shadow business minister, Lucy Powell.
Ms Nicholls told BBC Breakfast: “It employs 2.3 million people, so it’s a huge industry that doesn’t have certainty about an opening date, doesn’t know when it can take bookings, doesn’t know what guidelines it will be opening under, and potentially could be opening within three weeks.
“With all of that uncertainty it makes it a very anxious environment for our teams and our staff members, and we can’t reassure them about their jobs.”
The two-metre review announcement comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) urged the UK Government not to lift the lockdown until it is proved its widely criticised coronavirus contact-tracing system works.
Meanwhile, secondary schools in England have reopened to some pupils, with Year 10 and Year 12 students returning to get some time with their teachers ahead of their GCSE and A-level examinations next year.
The government has faced criticism that it has not done more to get schools back, with some children facing the prospect of having been out of the classroom for almost six months by the time they return in September.
A No 10 source said Mr Johnson was “acutely aware” of the impact the extended closure was having on pupils and was working with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson on a major “catch-up” plan.