Boris Johnson Unveils 4-Month Plan to Ease U.K. Covid Restrictions

Children in England will return to class and people will be able to meet a friend outside for coffee in two weeks’ time, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday as he announced a slow easing of one of Europe’s strictest pandemic lockdowns.

But those longing for a haircut, a restaurant meal or a pint in a pub have almost two months to wait, and people won’t be able to hug loved ones that they don’t live with until May at the earliest.

Britain has had Europe’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak, with more than 120,000 deaths.

Faced with a dominant virus variant that scientists say is both more transmissible and more deadly than the original virus, England has spent much of the winter under a tight lockdown - the third since March 2020.

Bars, restaurants, gyms, schools, hair salons and nonessential shops are closed, people are urged not to travel out of their local area and foreign holidays are illegal.

That will begin to change, slowly, on 8 March, when children go back to school and people are allowed to meet one friend or relative for a chat or picnic outdoors.

Three weeks later, people will be able to meet in small groups outdoors for sports or relaxation.

Under the government plan, shops and hairdressers will reopen 12 April, as will pubs and restaurants, though only outdoors.

Indoor venues such as theatres and cinemas, and indoor seating in bars and restaurants, are scheduled to open 17 May, and limited crowds will be able to return to sports stadiums.

It is also the earliest date Britons may be allowed foreign holidays.

The final stage of the plan, in which all legal limits on social conduct are removed and nightclubs can reopen after 15 months of closure, is set for 21 June.

The government says the dates could all be postponed if infections rise.

"I know there will be many people who will be worried that we are being too ambitious and that it is arrogant to impose any kind of plan upon a virus," Johnson said.

"I agree that we must always be humble in the face of nature and we must be cautious. But I really also believe that the vaccination programme has dramatically changed the odds in our favour," he added.

Hopes for a return to normality rest largely on Britain’s fast-moving inoculation programme that has given more than 17.5 million people, a third of the country’s adult population, the first of two doses of vaccine.

The government aims is to give every adult a shot of vaccine by 31 July.

Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, called on Johnson to announce more help for businesses affected by ongoing restrictions.

"It makes no sense to announce today that businesses will be closed for many more weeks or months without announcing new economic support," he said.

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