Roadmap For Ending Lockdown Restrictions

Roadmap For Ending Lockdown Restrictions Plans for ending the current lockdown restrictions have been unveiled by the prime minister, with a gradual easing of the rules set to take several months.

Schools and meeting up with friends and family are being prioritised over business and travel.

The 68-page roadmap for easing coronavirus restrictions will involve four tests that have to be met before any unlocking can begin.

The government will use the metrics in England to assess the impact of loosening the rules at each stage.



If any of the conditions are not met, the pace of the unlocking could be slowed.

The four tests are:

  • The vaccine deployment programme continues successfully
  • Evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths in those vaccinated
  • Infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS
  • The assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of the virus

There is likely to be a five-week gap between each stage of the unlocking to allow time for the changes to take effect and to ensure that the four conditions are met each time before further easing is allowed to happen. More than a quarter of the population, approximately 17.6 million people, have now received a first dose.

The step by step process outlined:

As part of the first step of the plan for easing lockdown in England:

  • From March 8th - All schools will open with outdoor after-school sports and activities allowed. Recreation in an outdoor public spaces - such as a park - will be allowed between two people, meaning they would be allowed to sit down for a coffee, drink or picnic
  • From March 29th - Outdoor gatherings of either six people or two households will be allowed. It is understood this will include gatherings in private gardens. Outdoor sports facilities such as tennis or basketball courts will reopen and organised adult and children's sport, such as grassroots football, will also return

Secondary school pupils can access tests and will be required to wear face coverings in classrooms and shared spaces like corridors.

The second step from April 12th would see major parts of the economy permitted to reopen:

  • Non-essential retail opens, hairdressers and public buildings like libraries and museums
  • Outdoor settings like alcohol takeaways, beer gardens, zoos and theme parks
  • Indoor leisure like swimming pools and gyms
  • Self-contained holiday accommodation, such as self-catering lets and camp sites

But wider social contact rules will continue to apply in all settings - meaning no indoor mixing between different households will be allowed.

Mr Johnson confirmed the end of hospitality curfews - and requirements to eat a substantial meal alongside alcohol.

He said a review of international leisure travel restrictions would be announced by 12 April at the earliest.

Funerals continue with up to 30 people, and weddings with up to 15 guests.

The third step will come from May 17th - if the data allows - and will see the "rule of six" abolished for outdoor gatherings, replaced with a limit of 30 people:

  • Two households can mix indoors - with the rule of six applied in hospitality settings like pubs
  • Cinemas, hotels, performances and sporting events reopen - though social distancing remains
  • Up to 10,000 spectators can attend the very largest outdoor seated venues like football stadiums

Up to 30 people will be able to attend weddings, receptions, funerals and wakes.

Mr Johnson said this step would also "consider the potential role of Covid status certification" - which could refer to so-called "vaccine passports" - in helping indoor venues to reopen safely.

The fourth step from June 21st will potentially see all legal limits on social contact removed, with the final closed sectors of the economy reopened - such as nightclubs.

The government hopes that - from this date - restrictions on weddings and funerals will also be abolished.

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