So here it is, the UK's roadmap out of lockdown
For almost a year now, the United Kingdom has been in a perpetual state of locking down and reopening. We have grown used to this weird way of life, enjoying our time when society has been allowed to reopen, before begrudgingly trudging back into our caves when - shock, horror - cases once again go up.
This most recent lockdown - in which we still find ourselves - has been, most people will agree, the most difficult of all. It is common knowledge that the government's decision to open areas up before Christmas - so as to allow festive business to flourish - contributed enormously to the extraordinary rise in cases that we are only now beginning to see tail off.
It is perhaps because of this that prime minister Boris Johnson has said he wants the impending the reopening to be the last, or as he put it, "irreversible".
This is the roadmap for reopening the PM laid out in the Commons today.
STEP ONE
March 8th
People still legally required to stay at home
Schools to reopen in full
Recreation with household or one other person outside allowed
30 people allowed at funerals, 6 allowed at weddings or wakes
March 29th
Stay at home order reneged, but people advised to remain local. No holidays allowed
Meetings of either six people or two households permitted outside
Outdoor sport and leisure facilities allowed to reopen (tennis courts, golf courses)
Organised outdoor sport allowed for children and adults
Outdoor parent and child groups (up to 15 parents) allowed
STEP TWO
No earlier than April 12th
Indoor leisure - including gyms - open for use individually or for household groups
Rule of six or two households allowed to mix outside, not inside
Outdoor attractions - zoos, theme parks and drive-in cinemas - can reopen
Libraries and community centres reopen
Barbers, hairdressers and nail salons can reopen
All retail can reopen
Outdoor hospitality can reopen
Domestic overnight stays allowed (household only)
Minimised travel advised, no international holiday
Event pilots will begin
STEP THREE
No earlier than May 17th
Indoor entertainment and attractions allowed
30 person limit outdoors
Rule of six or two households indoors allowed
Domestic stays overnight allowed
Organised indoor adult sport can resume
Some large events will begin again, with 1,000 or 50% capacity indoors, and 4,000 or 50% capacity outdoors
Outdoor seated events allowed 10,000 or 25% of capacity - this includes professional sport
International travel allowed subject to review
STEP FOUR
No earlier than June 21st
No legal limits on social contact
Nightclubs can reopen
Larger events return
No legal limit on all life events, such as weddings, wakes and funerals
All of these steps are contingent, said the prime minister on the UK passing four key tests, and they are as follows:
That the UK's vaccine deployment programme continues to be a success
That evidence shows jabs are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations, deaths and transmissions in vaccinated people
That the NHS is not put under unsustainable pressure from a surge in infections and hospitalisations
That the government’s view of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new coronavirus variants
