Shopping and social contact back on cards
Johnson offers a glimmer of hope for families to get together as lockdown may be eased further next week
Shops will be reopened and greater social contact allowed under the easing of lockdown restrictions, the Prime Minister has suggested. Last night, Boris Johnson said he would announce details of less draconian measures – which could include more mixing between households – in the coming days. The Government’s roadmap for lifting the lockdown raises the possibility of “bubbles” of social contacts when England moves to Step 2 of the alert system.
LOCKDOWN restrictions will be eased to allow greater “social contact” and the reopening of non-essential shops, Boris Johnson has suggested.
The Prime Minister last night promised to reveal details of less draconian measures – which could include more mixing between households – in the coming days. The rules were relaxed slightly a fortnight ago to allow members of one household to meet a maximum of one person from a different household in a public place, provided they stay two metres apart.
However, the Government’s roadmap for lifting the lockdown raises the possibility of “bubbles” of social contacts once England moves to Step 2.
Speaking at the daily Downing Street press conference, Mr Johnson said he believed the country to be “in a position to move to Step 2 of our plan”.
“We will set out what moving to Step 2 means for other areas, such as nonessential retail and more social contacts over the course of the next week,” he said, adding: “We are making good progress, but that progress is conditional, provisional. We must keep reducing the incidence of this disease.”
Mr Johnson will update the Cabinet on plans to lift the lockdown today, but it is unlikely any easing will come into effect before the start of next week.
Northern Ireland already allows groups of up to six people from different households to meet outdoors, so long as they maintain social distancing.
The Welsh government still prevents members of different households from meeting outdoors, although the health minister is reviewing the policy, and a review is promised on Thursday.
Nicola Sturgeon has promised to allow outside meetings between a maximum of two households from that date.
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies is understood to have advised ministers that Covid-19 infection is far less likely outdoors. The Government’s roadmap document states: “The intention of this change would be to allow those who are isolated some more social contact, and to reduce the most harmful effects of the current social restrictions, while continuing to limit the risk of chains of transmission. This could be based on the New Zealand model, where a single ‘bubble’ is the people you live with.”
Dr Jenny Harries, England’s deputy chief medical officer, has previously said allowing households to meet as bubbles could have mental health benefits but cautioned that the move would be “complicated” from a public health perspective.
“For example, if you have families with large numbers already in their families who want to meet up, you end up effectively with quite a large gathering even if it’s just two families meeting,” she said.
Step 2 of the roadmap also includes the opening of non-essential retail outlets, subject to the size of the establishment and the ability to enforce social distancing. Outdoor markets and car showrooms are two examples, a source told The Daily Telegraph.
However, any reopenings as part of Step 2 are not thought to include hospitality venues such as pubs and restaurants. Some of these could reopen from July 4, subject to incidence of the virus decreasing sufficiently.
“We must keep that ‘R’ down below one, and that means we must all remember the basics: wash our hands,
‘We are beating this thing. But we will beat it all the faster if we control the virus and save lives’
keep social distance, isolate,” said Mr Johnson yesterday. “We are beating this thing. But we will beat it all the faster if we control the virus and save lives.”
At Step 3, places of worship and leisure and hospitality facilities will be permitted to open. Progression to the next step is governed by the country’s virus alert level.
The UK is currently on Covid alert level four of five. This means the epidemic “is in general circulation” and that transmission is high or rising exponentially. If the situation improves, we will progress to alert level three when restrictions and social distancing measures can be “gradually relaxed”.
This can only occur when the reproduction rate or “R” number is below one, meaning that each infected person is transmitting the infection to less than one other, on average.
If the situation worsens and the NHS is at risk of being overwhelmed, the UK will regress to alert level five again.
Aggressive monitoring of new infections is a critical component of the process. Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, has recruited 25,000 contact tracers.