Yahoo News Coronavirus UK: Back to school and barbecues as next phase of lockdown begins in England
The next stage of the Government’s coronavirus “road map” begins on Monday, with children set to return to the classroom and loved-ones given the go-ahead to reunite in parks and gardens.
Different rules apply in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but for millions of people in England the easing of restrictions will mean greater freedoms, as well as greater risks.
At Sunday’s Downing Street press briefing, deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries urged members of the public to limit themselves to what is “sensible” rather than what was technically “possible” under the more relaxed measures.
From June 1, people in England will be permitted to meet up with up to six people from separate households outdoors, provided they continue to follow social distancing rules.
Meanwhile, more than two million clinically vulnerable people who have been shielding from the virus for the past 10 weeks will be allowed to go outside with members of their household or one person from another household, again, as long as they maintain a safe distance.
Primary schools will begin to open for pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6, and car showrooms and outdoor markets will also start to resume activity.
However, Dr Harries stressed that now is a “critical time” as she warned against reckless behaviour which could spark a second wave of virus infections.
“Where we are seeing that Government is easing measures, the public really, really need to stick to those messages, and it is not just about what it is possible to do, it’s about what it is sensible to do,” she told the televised news conference.
“What is sensible to do is have as few interactions as possible as you can with other people in all settings,” she said.
“I think it’s really important that people just try to use these measures sensibly for their own benefit, but don’t risk transmission to other people.”
At the same briefing, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick insisted the Government’s easing of restrictions was correct, despite criticism from scientific experts.
He said: “We’re reasonably confident that the steps we’ve taken, and will be taking on Monday, are manageable.”
Referring to the Covid-19 "R rate", or infection rate, Mr Jenrick said: “We have to all continue to play our part in that, because the rate of infection remains somewhere between 0.7 and 0.9 and the room for manoeuvre is quite limited.”
Dr Harries said she “absolutely” agreed with her colleague, fellow deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam, who said on Saturday that the lockdown rules are “for the benefit of all and apply to all”.
She said: “I thought his exposure of what he felt was exactly right.
“We usually say exactly the same things because we think in public health terms, and I think that’s right.
“And from my own perspective I can assure you that from a level of personal and professional integrity, I would always try and follow the rules as I know he does.”
The views were seen by many as a loaded comment on Boris Johnson’s key adviser Dominic Cummings’ contentious lockdown trip from London to Durham.
Speaking about new guidelines to allow 2.2 million people classed as “extremely vulnerable” to have more social interaction, Mr Jenrick insisted: “We’ll obviously keep this under very close scrutiny as we move into this next phase and as we approach the next decision point on June 15.”
Mr Jenrick added: “We’re not today asking people, or advising people, to stop shielding.
“Far from it. What we’re saying to the people who have been shielding for the last 10 weeks is that we think that the rate of infection is sufficiently low now to enable you to do some quite modest things, like going outside for a walk with members of your household, or like, if you’ve been living alone, meeting somebody from another household.”
In other news, the official UK death toll rose to 38,489, as of 5pm on Saturday – up by 113 from 38,376 the day before.
And the daily virus testing capacity reached 200,000, including capacity for 40,000 antibody tests a day, meeting the Prime Minister’s target of reaching the milestone by the end of May.
The Department of Health said the capacity was reached through diagnostic tests, with capacity currently at more than 112,000, antibody testing and surveillance testing, which was launched to determine how the virus moved through the population.
Mr Jenrick also repeated Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab’s earlier message that England was “transitioning” from level four to level three on the Covid Alert Levels system, which measures the threat level of coronavirus in the UK.
According to the system, gradual easing of restrictions is supposed to take place at level three, but Mr Raab said it was possible because the Government’s five tests to change measures have been met.
He added: “We can’t just stay in lockdown forever. We have got to transition.”
Asked whether the lockdown will be tightened again if infection rates increase, Mr Raab told Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday: “We will target, if there is any uptick, and it could be in a locality, it could be in a particular setting, we will target very carefully measures that would apply to it so that we can take these steps but also keep control of the virus.”
Mr Raab told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show the easing of the lockown was needed.
He said: “The reason we can take the steps is that we have met our five tests. We have made progress.
“Because we have made that progress, steadily, slowly, surely, week in, week out, we can very gradually, very carefully, take the steps that we are taking tomorrow.”
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