What can England now do? UK PM Johnson unveils easing of COVID lockdown
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled on Tuesday a significant easing of the coronavirus lockdown in England, saying pubs, restaurants and bars can reopen from July 4 and people can meet more friends and family.
Following are the main measures the prime minister announced:
-- Where it is not possible to stay 2 metres apart, people are advised to keep to a social distance of "1 metre plus" with the plus referring to other mitigations, such as installing screens, facing away from each other, putting up hand-washing facilities and wearing masks on public transport.
-- The advice for gatherings indoors, which includes visits to pubs, restaurants or holidays in paid accommodation, is that one household can meet one other household at a time, including staying overnight, while observing social distancing. There is no limit on the size of those households and no exclusivity. Different households can mix at different times.
-- Outdoors, people can congregate in a park or garden in a group of up to six people drawn from up to six different households while observing social distancing. Two households of any size can also meet outdoors - e.g. for two large families or households there would be no limit on the size of that gathering.
CAN OPEN IF COVID SECURE:
Hotels, hostels, bed and breakfast accommodation, holiday apartments or homes, cottages or bungalows, campsites, caravan parks or boarding houses
Places of Worship
Libraries
Community Centres
Restaurants, cafes and workplace canteens
Bars
Pubs
Cinemas
Bingo Halls
Theatres and concert halls [guidance dictates no live performances]
Museums and galleries
Hair salons and barbers
Outdoor playgrounds
Outdoor gyms
Funfairs, theme parks and adventure parks and activities
Amusement arcades
Outdoor skating rinks
Other indoor leisure centres or facilities, including indoor games, recreation and entertainment venues
Social clubs
Model villages
Indoor attractions at aquariums, zoos, safari parks, farms, wildlife centres and any place where animals are exhibited to the public as an attraction
REMAIN CLOSED
Nightclubs
Casinos
Bowling alleys and indoor skating rinks
Indoor play areas including soft-play
Spas
Nail bars and beauty salons
Massage, tattoo and piercing parlours
Indoor fitness and dance studios, and indoor gyms and sports venues/facilities
Swimming pools and water parks
Exhibition or Conference Centres - where they are to be used for exhibitions or conferences, other than for those who work for that venue.
WARNING - If the virus threatens to run out of control, the government says it would not hesitate to reverse some or all of the measures.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison)
