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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.
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:
A final decision regarding the plan will be confirmed next Monday, 12th July.
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.
"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."
"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.
Featured Image Credit: PA
Topics: UK News, lockdown, News, Boris Johnson, Covid-19