Covid-19 in the United Kingdom: Boris Johnson hopes for a return to normal by the end of June
Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street for Parliament on February 22, 2021. AP - Matt Dunham
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Boris Johnson said this Monday, February 22, to hope for a return to almost normal by the end of June in England, presenting his strategy for exiting confinement that he wants "cautious" but "irreversible" and which will begin with the reopening of schools early March.
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Country in Europe hardest hit by the coronavirus with more than 120,000 dead, the United Kingdom
confined itself for the third time
at the beginning of the year in the face of an explosion of the epidemic due to a more contagious variant that has appeared in southern England, which brought hospitals to the brink of submersion.
According to a schedule decided in each of the nations, the country is now preparing to loosen the screw a little, the restrictions and the massive vaccination campaign having led to a decline in contaminations, hospitalizations and deaths.
"
We cannot go on indefinitely with restrictions which weaken our economy, our mental and physical well-being
," Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs, presenting a four-step plan for England.
"
This is why it is essential that this roadmap be prudent but also irreversible
".
Non-essential stores will reopen on April 12
In England, the most populous nation with 56 million people, schools will be the first to benefit from the relaxation of restrictions, with a reopening scheduled for March 8.
From March 29, the stay-at-home order will be lifted and outdoor gatherings, limited to six people or two different households, will be allowed.
Non-essential stores, hairdressers, pubs - but only outdoors - and museums will have to wait until April 12.
Cinemas, hotels, stadiums (with a maximum of 10,000 people), hotels and restaurants (indoors) will follow on May 17, the date on which members of different households can meet indoors.
If the health situation allows it, the restrictions limiting social contact will be lifted on June 21 at the earliest, as will the teleworking instruction.
Boris Johnson said any decision would be made based on the scientific evidence at his disposal, such as the effectiveness of anti-Covid vaccines and the decline in hospitalizations.
The government based its crisis exit strategy on
the vaccination campaign, launched in early December, which is in full swing
.
One in three adults has already received a first dose, or more than 17.5 million people, and by mid-April, those over 50 should all have been partially vaccinated.
(
With
AFP)
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United Kingdom
Coronavirus
Boris Johnson
Health and medicine
Vaccines