Lincolnshire coronavirus: PM outlines roadmap to lockdown easing

The PM hopes the UK will be completely out of lockdown by July, as long as vaccination progress is successful. So far over 17.5 million first doses of COVID vaccinations have been given.

Boris Johnson announced his lockdown exit plans in the House of Commons on Monday which will see all areas at the same time easing, prioritising schools and outdoor activity.

Here’s a breakdown of the PMs plans:

March 8

All schools return

Allowed to meet outside with one other outside your household for outdoor recreation

England care homes can have one named regular visitor provided testing and PPE

Amend regulation for COVID-secure campaign activities for May elections

March 29

Outdoor gathering of six people or two households

Outdoor sports areas can open

Organised adult and children’s sports return subject to guidance

Travel outside the local area allowed

Not legally required to stay at home but work from home where can

April 12

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 and camp sites

May 17

Rule of six outdoors abolished

Pubs, bars and restaurants to reopen

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.

June 21

Remove limits of social contact and weddings

Night clubs open

Theatre performances open

July

Life broadly back to normality

International travel is expected to return at some point this summer, with more details expected by April 12.

Four requirements for easing lockdown:

Vaccine deployment programme successful

Vaccines effective in reducing hospitalisation and deaths

Infections do not risk a surge that would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS

Assessments of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of concern

Over the weekend, Boris Johnson pledged that every adult in the UK should be offered a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of July, ahead of the original target of Autumn.

Mr Johnson said in the House of Commons: “There is therefore no credible route to a zero COVID Britain or indeed azero COVID world.”

James Mayer , Local Democracy Reporting Service