Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a news conference this week to announce the roadmap to lockdown easing in a phased approach by 21 June.
Mr Johnson laid out target dates on which different industries can reopen, provided that conditions around vaccination, testing and new COVID-19 variants are met.
Under his plans, non-essential retail shops, hairdressers, gyms and outdoor hospitality venues will be allowed to reopen on 12 April, as well as some public buildings such as libraries.
Two households could also be allowed to mix from 17 May, while pubs may be able to open with the ‘rule of six’.
The step-by-step lockdown easing process could then culminate in the lifting of all legal limits on social contact by 21 June in a bid to reopen the sectors of the economy which remain closed.
The PM called the plans ‘cautious, but irreversible’, and believes that we will have to learn to live with the virus, saying there was ‘no credible route to a zero-Covid Britain nor indeed a zero-Covid world.’
While there would be far fewer COVID-19 cases, as well as a greater proportion of the population vaccinated, in this scenario, the fact remains that the virus won’t have just gone away.
In order to meet these targets, it is important that we all take responsibility for the role we play in reducing transmission. In the case of businesses, we must ensure that the working environment is as safe as possible in order to protect employees and reduce the chances of coronavirus restrictions being reintroduced.
If you’d like to find out how you can create and maintain a Covid-safe working environment for your team, get in touch with Covid Safe UK today.
