By Tony O’Riley-
Prime minister, Boris Johnson is to give the formal go-ahead for the latest relaxation of lockdown restrictions in England on 17 May which is to include the green light for hugging friends and family.
As from Monday next week, pubs and restaurants will be permitted to reopen for indoor eating and drinking, while cinemas, hotels and B&Bs will be able to open their doors to customers for the first time in many months.
Industry leaders welcomed the move, which they said would allow 1 million workers to return from furlough, but urged the prime minister to bring forward confirmation of the final unlocking of society on 21 June.
Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UK Hospitality, warned that the future of many businesses will remain uncertain unless Mr Johnson accelerates his current timetable of delaying that announcement until mid-June.
Next week’s relaxation of lockdown comes despite Michael Gove ‘s expression of “genuine worry” over virus mutations.
Cases of the Indian variant reportedly more than doubled in England over the last week, but PHE said there was “insufficient evidence” to suggest that it causes more severe illness or makes Covid-19 vaccines any less effective.
It will see most social contact rules outdoors lifted, although gatherings of more than 30 will remain illegal.
Indoors, the rule of six or two households will apply, with indoor hospitality, entertainment venues such as cinemas and soft play areas, the rest of the accommodation sector, and indoor adult group sports and exercise classes expected to reopen.
Speaking on BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Mr Gove said: “All being well, the Prime Minister will confirm tomorrow that there will be a relaxation, we’ve already indicated a proportionate relaxation on international travel, very limited at this stage because we have to be safe.
“In the same way, as we move into stage three of our road map it will be the case that we will see people capable of meeting indoors.
“And without prejudice to a broader review of social distancing, it is also the case that friendly contact, intimate contact, between friends and family is something we want to see restored.”
Mr Gove said the Government is reviewing whether pupils should continue to wear masks in schools from May 17.
Ministers have faced calls from union leaders for face coverings to remain in secondary schools and colleges, after they described plans to remove them as “unwise” at a time when Covid-19 infections remain in classrooms and not everyone has received a vaccine.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson had previously said the Government is planning to lift the face mask requirement in secondary schools from May 17.
When asked whether mask-wearing in schools will end, Mr Gove said: “What we want to do throughout is balance public health by making sure we can return to normal as quickly as possible.”
“I won’t pre-empt that judgment, we’ll be seeing more about it shortly.”
Meanwhile, the head of the Oxford University vaccine group said he believed it is the right time to ease further restrictions in England.
Professor Andrew Pollard said the country has seen the “extraordinary success” of both the vaccination programme and the “prolonged” lockdown.
“I think it is time to start, based on the very careful modelling that’s been done, relaxing some of those restrictions,” he told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
“That means we’re in a very fortunate position here in the UK.”
Latest figures show a third of UK adults are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, with a total of 17,669,379 people having received both jabs – the equivalent of 33.5% of all people aged 18 and over.
England and Northern Ireland are both estimated to have given two doses to 33.6% of their adult population, slightly ahead of Wales (33.4%) and Scotland (33.1%).
The milestone was described as “a testament to the extraordinary efforts of NHS staff and volunteers” by Boris Johnson, while health Secretary Matt Hancock said it is “yet more evidence of the huge national vaccination effort we are in the middle of”.
He added: “I pay tribute to the huge team – NHS staff, councils and of course our wonderful volunteers who are working so hard to deliver vaccines in all parts of the United Kingdom.”
On Friday, the Government announced plans to allow international travel from May 17 after months of banning most trips abroad.
It was met with criticism from industry leaders who described the “cautious” approach to unlocking foreign travel as “disappointing”, after only 12 countries were added to the quarantine-free green list.
The Government said a further five people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Saturday, bringing the UK total to 127,603, with a further 2,047 lab-confirmed cases.