Prime Minister Boris Johnson is currently setting out his exit timetable to lift the country out of lockdown .
Addressing members of Parliament Shops the Prime Minister said that hairdressers, gyms and outdoor hospitality will reopen on 12 April in England if strict conditions are met, under plans being set out by the PM.
Up to six people from separate households could be able to meet in beer gardens from that date.
The new four-step plan to ease lockdown could see all legal limits on social contact lifted by 21 June.
It requires four tests on vaccines, infection rates and new coronavirus variants to be met at each stage.
The Prime Minister told MPs the plan aimed to be “cautious but irreversible” and at every stage decisions would be led by “data not dates”.
The Prime Minister said: “The threat remains substantial with the numbers in hospital only now beginning to fall below the peak of the first wave in April.
“But we are able to take these steps because of the resolve of the British people and the extraordinary success of our NHS in vaccinating more than 17.5 million people across the UK.”
He added that there is “no credible route to a zero-Covid Britain nor indeed a zero-Covid world”.
And he said “no vaccine can ever be 100% effective”.
He told MPs: “So, as the modelling released by Sage today shows, we cannot escape the fact that lifting lockdown will result in more cases, more hospitalisations and sadly more deaths.
“And this would happen whenever lockdown is lifted – whether now or in six or nine months, 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.”
But he said he will not take the risk of having to reimpose restrictions as a result of lifting lockdown at a quicker pace.
He also said: “The chief medical officer is clear that moving any faster would mean acting before we know the impact of each step, which would increase the risk of us having to reverse course and reimpose restrictions, I won’t take that risk.”
And added: “There will be many people who’ll be worried that we’re being too ambitious and that it’s arrogant to try to impose any kind of plan on a virus. I agree we must always be humble in the face of nature.”
Prime Minister’s announcement at a glance are:
- The potential lifting of all Covid restrictions by the end of June, all legal limits on social contact removed, with the final closed sectors of the economy reopened – such as nightclubs.
- March 8th:
- School returns
- Outdoor socialising relaxed to allow adults to meet for coffee or drink in a one-to-one scenario
- Every care home resident will be able to nominate one visitor from 8 March,
- March 29th:
- Rule of six or two households in public spaces or private gardens
- Legal “Stay at Home” order will end
- Government urging to work from home where possible will continue
- No earlier than April 12th:
- Non-essential shops to re-open
- Hairdressers to re-open
- Personal beauty shops to re-open
- Libraries and museums to re-open
- Gyms and leisure centres to re-open for single adults
- Outdoor pub and restaurant serving only. There will be no curfew under step two of the relaxing of England’s lockdown restrictions and there will be no requirement for alcohol to be accompanied by a “substantial meal”
- Holiday lets
- No earlier than May 17th:
- Indoor mixing allowed again, with rule of six (to be kept under review)
- Pubs and restaurants re-opening
- Cinemas re-open
- Rule of six abandoned outdoors, restricted to 30
- Sporting venues will reopen
- No earlier than June 21st:
- All legal limits mixing
- Large events and performances will be allowed again
- No limits on weddings or other life events
