New plans for easing lockdown will include twice-weekly rapid tests and could include new COVID-19 vaccination passports.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet is later on Monday expected to sign off on the next stage of the roadmap ahead of a press conference this afternoon which will also include guidance on foreign holidays.
Here’s what we know so far:
More rapid testing
Free twice-weekly lateral flow tests will be offered to everyone ahead of further lockdown relaxation.
The lateral flow testing kits – which can give results in up to 30 minutes – will be available from a number of sites from Friday.
They include:
Online orders
Workplace testing programmes
Community testing centres
Collection from local testing sites during specific time windows
Testing at schools and colleges
Collections from pharmacies by those aged over 18
The aim will be to tighten controls on outbreaks and is an extension of the government’s aims to offer 10 million tests a day.
The government says one in three people with COVID-19 do not experience any symptoms and may be spreading the virus unwittingly.
Health secretary Matt Hancock said: “As we reopen society and resume parts of life we have all dearly missed, regular rapid testing is going to be fundamental in helping us quickly spot positive cases and squash any outbreaks.
“The vaccine programme has been a shot in the arm for the whole country, but reclaiming our lost freedoms and getting back to normal hinges on us all getting tested regularly.
“The British public have shown over the last year that they quickly adapt and always do what it is right in the interest of public health, and I know they will do their bit by getting tested regularly in the months ahead.”
The government’s NHS COVID-19 app will also be updated so that groups will be required to check-in using it when entering hospitality venues.
Passport sparks debate
The controversial COVID-19 passports, which will be used to allow attendance at mass-audience events including concerts and sports matches, were expanded on over the weekend.
Officially known as the “COVID status certification” due to the government’s reluctance to use the word “passport”, the scheme would record a persons status using an app – though it’s not clear if this would be the NHS one or an entirely separate one.
A paper certificate could also be issued for those without smartphones.
Businesses opening on 12 April, including pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops, will not be required to introduce certification.
Public transport and essential shops will also be exempt from the plans.
Pilot events are set to take place over the few next months including at:
A comedy event at the M&S Bank arena in Liverpool
The FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium
World Snooker at the Crucible Theatre
A film festival at The Luna Cinema, Liverpool
The Carabao Cup Final at Wembley Stadium
Fun Runs at Hatfield House, in Herfordshire
The Carabao Cup Final at Wembley Stadium
A business event at the ACC in Liverpool
Circus club nights at Circus Nightclub in Liverpool
and the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium
The NHS track and trace app could be used for a COVID-19 vaccine passport scheme. | Photo: The Lincolnite
The government has so far insisted that any measures would be “time limited”
However, those against the plans have warned it would segregate the country.
Baroness Chakrabarti told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it would create a “checkpoint Britain”.
“It’s one thing to have a passport to travel internationally, that is a privilege, even a luxury, but participating in local community life is a fundamental right,” she said.
More than 70 MPs, including 40 Conservatives, as well as peers from the House of Lords, have signed a pledge against the plans.
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A 20-year-old man has been locked up for three years after starting a fire in care accommodation with a discarded cigarette.
Callum Lilliot, 20, dropped a cigarette on his coat which he then threw onto his bed at his care accommodation in Awdry Drive, Wisbech, at about 10pm on Boxing Day 2021.
Officers initially were called to the property when Lilliot threatened to jump out of a second-floor window, but arrived to find smoke coming from an open window.
An officer began to kick the door down through fears that people were inside, before a carer opened it with a key and police tried to tackle the fire themselves.
The officers were beaten back by smoke and heat, causing two of them to be hospitalised with smoke inhalation. Four residents and carers were evacuated as Lilliot was arrested a short time later.
He claimed the fire had been an accident as temporary accommodation had to be arranged for other residents, but that was not to be the last time that Christmastime he got himself in trouble with the police.
In a further incident on December 29, just three days later, Lilliot rang 999 to say he wanted to hurt staff at Peterborough’s Edith Cavell Centre by burning it down.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of arson with intent to endanger life, arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered, and threatening to damage or destroy property, during a hearing at Cambridge Crown Court on Wednesday, June 29.
Lilliot was sentenced to three years detention in a young offenders institution.
Detective Sergeant Lee Womak, who investigated, said: “Lilliot showed little regard for the safety of others when he decided to deliberately drop his cigarette on his coat and start a fire.
“I don’t need to explain why starting fires is so dangerous and I hope Lilliot will reflect on his actions and consider how tragic the consequences could have been.”
A judge has issued an apology to a Boston man who admitted drug dealing after his sentence hearing was postponed for a second time because of strike action by crown court barristers.
Stacey Housham, 42, has been warned to expect jail after he pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine and heroin to other users.
Housham was due to be sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on June 9, but the hearing could not go-ahead because of protest action by defence barristers.
His case was postponed until July 5, however Judge John Pini QC was again forced to adjourn the sentence hearing after being told Housham’s barrister was unavailable because of strike action.
Housham, who attended the hearing by video-link, will now be sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on July 27.
Judge Pini told Housham: “These are serious matters. I have read the papers and the pre-sentence report in detail.
“Quite plainly your barrister needs to be here before you can be sentenced.
“I am sorry about this. It is something completely out of my control.”
Housham pleaded guilty to four charges concerning Class A drugs when he appeared at Lincoln Crown Court in April.
He was due to be sentenced after the preparation of a report by the Probation Service.
A number of other cases at Lincoln Crown Court have been impacted by the nationwide strike action by the Criminal Bar Association. (CBA)
Eight out of 10 barristers voted for the walkouts amid concerns the Government will not improve a proposed increase in criminal Legal Aid.
Housham, who was of no fixed address at the time of his offences, and is formerly of Collingwood Crescent, Boston, admitted possessing both cocaine and heroin with intent to supply others on February 10, 2020.
He also pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin to others between December 6, 2019, and February 11, 2020.
At a previous hearing the court heard Housham is now clean of drugs and has turned his life around.
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