FOUR STEPS TO FREEDOM
England's coronavirus restrictions could finally be lifted by June 21 as part of a four-stage plan, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson declaring "the end really is in sight".
The Prime Minister told MPs the approach was "cautious but also irreversible" – with the impact of the vaccination programme replacing the need for lockdown measures.
He said a "wretched year would give way to a spring and a summer that will be very different and incomparably better".
The Prime Minister acknowledged that scientific modelling suggested that lifting lockdown measures would increase Covid-19 cases and ultimately deaths but insisted the restrictions could not continue indefinitely.
In the first phase, all pupils in English schools are expected to return to class from March 8, with wider use of face masks and testing in secondaries.
Socialising in parks and public spaces with one other person will also be permitted from then.
A further easing of restrictions will take place on March 29, when the school Easter holidays begin – with larger groups of up to six people or two households allowed to gather in parks and gardens.
Other measures in the road map include:
*From April 12 at the earliest: Shops, hairdressers, nail salons, libraries, outdoor attractions and outdoor hospitality venues such as beer gardens will reopen.
*From May 17 at the earliest: Two households or groups of up to six people will be allowed to mix indoors and crowds of up to 10,000 in the largest venues will be allowed at performances and sporting events.
*Friends and family could finally be allowed to hug each other again, with the road map promising that advice on social distancing will be updated "as soon as possible" and no later than step three.
*From June 21 at the earliest: All remaining restrictions on social contact could be lifted, larger events can go ahead and nightclubs could finally reopen.
During a statement in the Commons, the Prime Minister acknowledged "the threat remains substantial" with the numbers in hospital only now beginning to fall below the peak of the first wave in April.
He said modelling by the Sage scientific advisory panel showed "we cannot escape the fact that lifting lockdown will result in more cases, more hospitalisations and sadly more deaths".
He added: "This would happen whenever lockdown is lifted, because there will always be some vulnerable people who are not protected by the vaccines.
"There is therefore no credible route to a zero Covid Britain, or indeed, a zero Covid world and we cannot persist indefinitely with restrictions that debilitate our economy, our physical and mental wellbeing and the life chances of our children."
He said his approach to the easing of restrictions would be driven by "data not dates".
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Prime Minister should listen to his scientific advisers and not Tory lockdown-sceptics when deciding on the next steps.
"If he does not, we will waste all the sacrifices of the last 12 months," he warned.