Families could be allowed to meet for Easter
WESTCOUNTRY families forced apart by coronavirus restrictions could be able meet up for Easter, if Boris Johnson unveils plans to ease lockdown as expected today
Non-essential shops could also be allowed to reopen a short time later, the Prime Minister is expected to say, as he unveils his route out of lockdown.
Mr Johnson will meet ministers this morning to rubber-stamp his detailed plans to bring England out of lockdown. It is expected that schools will be allowed to reopen on March 8, with non-contact outdoor sports permitted from two weeks after that.
Mr Johnson will make a muchanticipated speech to the Commons on the so-called ‘road map’ and is expected to lead a Downing Street news conference later today.
Covid-19 infection rates have plummeted since the country was plunged into a national lockdown at the start of last month, with infections down 22% on last Saturday.
Mr Johnson faces pressure from within his own Conservative party to ease restrictions in time for Easter, but scientists have urged him not to act too quickly and risk another waves of deaths and hospitalisations.
The UK’s official Covid death rate topped 120,000 on Saturday, after a further 445 fatalities were confirmed.
In his statement, the Prime Minister is expected to confirm:
Primary and secondary schools to return on March 8. There will be exemptions for schools in areas of localised high infections.
Outdoor exercise allowed from March 8, with non-contact sports such as tennis and golf to follow two weeks later.
Friends and families to be allowed to meet in time for Easter, but restricted initially to two households.
Non-essential shops will be allowed to open just after Easter, but hairdressers and beauty shops will stay closed for longer.
Pubs could be open for ‘al fresco’ service only in April, without the 10pm curfew or “substantial meal” rule imposed previously. Pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues will open more widely in May, but customers will be limited to meeting one other household or obeying the ‘rule of six’ outdoors.
Meeting indoors, probably under the rule of six, is scheduled to return in early June and the window is to be left open on the possibility of a social mixing returning “broadly back to normal” by July.
Meanwhile, the PM is now pledging to vaccinate all UK adults by the end of July. His new deadline to vaccinate all over-18s is months ahead of the original autumn target.
He also promises that all over-50s plus those with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk will have been invited by April 15 – two weeks ahead of schedule.
Tourism chief Patricia Yates, of Visit Britain, said: “This is very welcome news in the pathway towards opening up and leading some sort of normal life.
“The scientists have indicated that some social distancing will continue and we don’t know whether the vaccination will change that. The end of social distancing would be hugely welcome, particularly for the smaller pubs and restaurants that have been really hard hit economically.”
Scientists warn that international travel is still out of bounds without quarantine, but travel company bosses hope the speeded-up vaccine rollout could change the outlook.