Boris Johnson, who intervened on Sunday evening on television to extend until June 1 the confinement decreed in late March in the United Kingdom, detailed Monday his strategy of deconfinement in front of the British deputies. 

"Our challenge is to find a way to move forward while preserving the hard-won gains, while reducing the weight of confinement. I will be frank: it is an extremely difficult balance to find," acknowledged the Prime Minister. , strongly criticized after the announcement of his plan. "If the data goes in the wrong direction (...) we will have no hesitation in slowing down, delaying measures or reintroducing others, on a local, regional or national scale".

"There are many questions and few answers," Labor Labor Leader Keir Starmer denounced in Parliament, saying that "both clarity and reassurance are limited".

A three-stage deconfinement plan

According to the government's plan, citizens will be able to walk, sunbathe or go to the beaches and nature from Wednesday. They will however have to stay away from each other and it is recommended that they wear masks in transport and shops.

While teleworking is still recommended, those who cannot work from home - especially in factories and construction sites - are encouraged to go to work. A quarantine is also planned for travelers arriving from abroad, except Ireland and France, but no date has been given.

In a second step, from June 1 and in the event of progress in the fight against the pandemic, primary schools and certain businesses may reopen, the sports season restart in camera and each household will have the right to attend one other. Third stage from July 4: reopen pubs, hairdressers, places of worship and cinemas.

 Scotland "not convinced" 

Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already said that these announcements do not apply to her region: "The Scottish government is not yet convinced that these changes can be made safely in Scotland without running the may see the virus potentially get out of control again. "

The United Kingdom is the second most bereaved country in the world by the new coronavirus after the United States, with 32,065 deaths in hospitals and in retirement homes.

With AFP 

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