Boris Johnson has addressed the nation to outline the government's plans for the final lockdown lifting in two week's time, confirming social distancing "rule of six" restrictions will end and nightclubs will reopen.
On 14th June, the prime minister confirmed that all legal limits on social contact would be lifted on 19th July instead of 21st June after a rise in covid-19 infections driven by the Delta variant, which was first discovered in India.
The delay meant capacity limits in places like pubs, restaurants, sports venues and cinemas continued to operate while nightclubs remained closed.
The delay meant capacity limits in places like pubs, restaurants, sports venues and cinemas continued to operate while nightclubs remained closed.
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According to current restrictions, there is a "rule of six" on gatherings, table service in restaurants and pubs and limits on capacity in theatres and cinemas. Nightclubs have been closed since March 2020 and there is guidance asking all those who can to work from home.
Now Boris Johnson has confirmed plans will go ahead with face masks no longer required in many settings and social distancing restrictions set to be removed in pubs and restaurants. Nightclubs have also been given the green light to re-open in a fortnight.
The six point plan is as follows:
- There will be no limits on social contact. This means such as the "rule of six" and restrictions on guests at weddings and mourners at funerals will come to an end.
- Legal requirement to wear face coverings will be lifted. There will be guidance to suggest people might choose to do so in "enclosed and crowded places", such as public transport.
- All remaining businesses will be able to reopen, including nightclubs, while capacity caps will be lifted and bars and restaurants will no longer be restricted to table service.
- The government will no longer instruct people to work from home.
- The "one metre plus" rule on social distancing will be lifted except in specific circumstances such as at the border, where guidance will remain to keep passengers from red and amber list countries from mingling with other travellers.
- The limit on named care home visitors will be lifted but infection control measures will remain in place.
- A covid status certificate - often referred to as "vaccine passport" will not become compulsory however firms will be able to voluntarily use the system.
- The gap between vaccine doses for under-40s will be reduced from 12 weeks to eight, meaning that all adults will have the opportunity to be double-jabbed by mid-September.
A final decision regarding the plan will be confirmed next Monday, 12th July.
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On Sunday, the number of daily cases reached 24,248 with 15 deaths.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the prime minister said people must "learn to live" with Covid and "exercise judgement".
He added: "Thanks to the successful rollout of our vaccination programme, we are progressing cautiously through our roadmap. Today we will set out how we can restore people's freedoms when we reach step 4.
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"But I must stress that the pandemic is not over and that cases will continue to rise over the coming weeks. As we begin to learn to live with this virus, we must all continue to carefully manage the risks from COVID and exercise judgement when going about our lives."
In June, when the delay was announced, Johnson said: "By Monday 19th July we will aim to have double jabbed around two thirds of the adult population including everyone over 50, all the vulnerable, all the frontline health and care workers and everyone over 40 who received their first dose by mid-May.
"And to do this we will now accelerate the 2nd jabs for those over 40 - just as we did for the vulnerable groups - so they get maximum protection as fast as possible.
He continued: "We will bring forward our target to give every adult in this country a first dose by 19th July that is including young people over the age of 18 with 23 and 24 year olds invited to book jabs from tomorrow - so we reduce the risk of transmission among groups that mix the most.
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