PM Boris Johnson unveils the roadmap out of lockdown

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced his roadmap out of the third lockdown which will start with schools opening on March 8 and non-essential shops open by April 12.

The PM hopes the UK will be completely out of lockdown by July, as long as vaccination progress is successful. So far over 17.5 million first doses of COVID vaccinations have been given.

Boris Johnson announced his lockdown exit plans in the House of Commons on Monday which will see all areas at the same time easing, prioritising schools and outdoor activity.

Here’s a breakdown of the PM’s plans:

March 8

• All schools return
• Allowed to meet outside with one other outside your household for outdoor recreation
• England care homes can have one named regular visitor provided testing and PPE
• Amend regulation for COVID-secure campaign activities for May elections

March 29

• Outdoor gathering of six people or two households
• Outdoor sports areas can open
• Organised adult and children’s sports return subject to guidance
• Travel outside the local area allowed
• Not legally required to stay at home but work from home where can

April 12

• Non-essential retail opens, hairdressers and public buildings like libraries and museums
• Outdoor settings like alcohol takeaways, beer gardens, zoos and theme parks
• Indoor leisure like swimming pools and gyms
• Self-contained holiday accommodation, such as self-catering and camp sites

May 17

• Rule of six outdoors abolished
• Pubs, bars and restaurants to reopen
• Two households can mix indoors – with the rule of six applied in hospitality settings like pubs
• Cinemas, hotels, performances and sporting events reopen – though social distancing remains
• Up to 10,000 spectators can attend the very largest outdoor seated venues like football stadiums
• Up to 30 people will be able to attend weddings, receptions, funerals and wakes.

June 21

• Remove limits of social contact and weddings
• Night clubs open
• Theatre performances open

July

• Life broadly back to normality

International travel is expected to return at some point this summer, with more details expected by April 12.

Four requirements for easing lockdown:

• Vaccine deployment programme successful
• Vaccines effective in reducing hospitalisation and deaths
• Infections do not risk a surge that would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS
• Assessments of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of concern

Over the weekend, Boris Johnson pledged that every adult in the UK should be offered a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of July, ahead of the original target of Autumn.

Mr Johnson said in the House of Commons: “There is therefore no credible route to a zero COVID Britain or indeed a zero COVID world.”

Boris Johnson speaking in the House of Commons on Monday.