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Lockdown set to ‘lift rapidly’ after schools reopen with pubs ‘open late April’
New plan suggests ‘a desire to reopen rapidly in the weeks after schools readmit most children next month’
While Boris Johnson will be revealing his ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown on Monday, February 22nd, reports of what we could expect have been leaking.
The prime minister is awaiting the latest evidence regarding the vaccine’s effect on both hospital admissions and deaths, which is expected to be delivered to him today.
Mr Johnson said this week that the easing of restrictions should happen in stages, in an ‘irreversible’ way, with a focus on evidence rather than sticking to deadlines to lift lockdown.
However, a new Whitehall blueprint for a timetable has emerged, and according to this plan pubs would reopen by late April as well as some sporting venues, with entertainment venues following in early May, Sky News reports.
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The prime minister is still hoping the March 8th date will be used for kids to return to school, with the return of pupils the starting point for the gradual easing of restrictions.
According to Sky News the timetable suggests ‘a desire to reopen rapidly in the weeks after schools readmit most children next month’.
The blueprint suggests higher education and further education students might return in mid-April, with non-essential shops also opening again around this time.
Next would be hospitality venues, hotels, leisure facilities and some sporting venues, which according to these reports would reopen in late April, followed by entertainment venues and sporting facilities in early May.
It’s understood that this proposal, which has been devised by officials, hasn’t yet been signed off by the prime minister, and will only go ahead if Covid rates continue to decline across the country.
According to reports in the Mail earlier this week, the easing of restrictions will take place in ‘four-weekly intervals’, with the route out of lockdown seeing the UK ‘broadly’ back to normal by July.
Mr Johnson said on Wednesday that he’ll undertake a ‘cautious and prudent approach’ to gradually taking England out of lockdown.
