Heart op father, 54 saluted
at the casino and a small number of sports events will also open.
Authorities will test the safe return of spectators, beginning with the World Snooker Championship final in Sheffield this weekend, where a reduced crowd of about 300 will be admitted.
Tests will also take place at conference venues ahead of the expected return of business events from October 1 at the earliest.
The lockdown rules were set to be eased on August 1 but it was postponed after a slight rise in the number of testing positive for coronavirus in England.
Office for National Statistics figures showed last week that this may be levelling off.
Mr Johnson said plans to open up more of the economy “will allow more people to return to work and the public to get back to more of the things they have missed”.
But he warned the Government “will not hesitate to put on the brakes if necessary, or to bring in more local measures to help to control the spread of the virus”.
The easing of the rules also coincides with the tightening of other restrictions, including bigger fines up to £3,200 for not wearing face masks.
Mr Johnson said: “Most people in this country are following the rules and doing their bit to control the virus but we must remain focused and be complacent.
“That is why we are strengthening the enforcement powers available to use against those who repeatedly flout the rules.”
Not all of England has cause to celebrate however.
The easing of lockdown will not affect Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, East Lancashire and Leicester.
Stricter rules will remain due to high or rising Covid19 cases. Households cannot we cannot mix indoors unless they are in a “support bubble” and limits remain on numbers meeting outside.
The measures will reviewed next week.
But the latest data for Leicester shows infection rates have declined, so a further review is being carried out with an update expected within days.
Health minister Edward Argar told people in areas under local lockdown: “I’d like to thank everyone for be
A FATHER who spent the pandemic in hospital awaiting a heart transplant was clapped from his ward as he went home after surgery.
Sales engineer Richard Priest, 54, was admitted to Royal Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, on New Year’s Eve until a donor was found in July.
Richard, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, said he could not wait to get home to wife Rachael, but added: “I’ve been kept in this little bubble inside Papworth and it’s been fantastic.
“I didn’t notice much change during lockdown. I got it second-hand from my wife every day through video calls.”
Richard also raised £3,700 for the hospital cycling 370 miles on an exercise bike – the distance from Land’s End to Cambridge.