Government publishes four-step roadmap to ease restrictions across England and provide a route back to a more normal way of life
The Prime Minister has announced a 4-step plan to ease lockdown in England, to provide a route back to a more normal life.
Restrictions will be lifted across England at the same time. Each change will be guided by data, not dates, to avoid an increase in infections, hospitalisations and deaths.
The government has also announced mass testing for secondary pupils as all schools and colleges fully reopen from 8 March.
The four tests
Four tests will decide if each step of easing lockdown will go ahead.
- The vaccine programme continues successfully.
- Evidence shows vaccines are significantly effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths in those vaccinated.
- Infection rates do not risk an increase in hospitalisations which could put extra pressure on the NHS.
- Our assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants.
Step 1 - From 8 March
- Pupils at all schools can return from 8 March. Students at university studying subjects which require practical teaching can also return.
- People will be allowed to leave home for recreation and exercise outdoors with their household or support bubble, or with one person from outside their household.
- Care home residents will also be allowed one regular visitor.
From 29 March
- Either 6 people or 2 households will be allowed to gather outdoors. This includes private gardens.
- Outdoor sports facilities, such as tennis and basketball courts, will be allowed to reopen, and people can take part in formally organised outdoor sports.
Progress to the next steps
There will be a minimum of five weeks between each step: four weeks for the data to reflect changes in restrictions; followed by seven days’ notice of the restrictions to be eased. This is why all the dates in the roadmap are subject to change.
- Step 2 will be no earlier than 12 April. Non-essential retail, personal care premises, such as hairdressers and nail salons, and public buildings, such as libraries and community centres, will reopen.
- We will not progress to Step 3 before 17 May. If the 4 tests are met we will be able to do more. For example, we will lift most social contact rules, although gatherings of more than 30 people will still be illegal.
- Similarly, we will not progress to Step 4 before 21 June. However, when we are able to progress to Step 4 we hope to remove all legal limits on social contact.
You can find further information about each step of the plan on gov.uk. It is also available in Large Print on gov.uk.
In the meantime, the vaccination programme continues and the government has announced a new target to offer a first dose of the vaccine to every adult by the end of July.
However, even as lockdown measures are relaxed step by step, we must all continue to follow the stay at home rules and the rules for each step out of lockdown, to reduce the spread of the disease and save lives.
