Lockdown Rules Roadmap from April 12th Opening

As of April 12, 2021, retail stores, gyms, beauty shops, pubs, and restaurants will reopen for business using a four-step plan initially developed for use in February when the latest lockdown began.

This is step two of the four needed to reopen. The Government stated no less than five weeks should be between each level.

One week before lifting the latest restriction, a statement will be issued to support a further easing of Covid mandates.

Four criteria For Reopening

Successful continuance of the vaccine strategy

Vaccinations have lowered deaths and hospital stays due to Covid-19.

Rates of infection have not spiked hospitalisations and increased intolerable needs on the National Health Service.

Review of any new Covid variants

Mark your calendar for April 12, 2021, as the day things begin to normalise.

With the country steadily being brought out covid quarantine, the United Kingdom is currently on the second level of its plan, allowing for outdoor events to reopen on April 12.

The United Kingdom is presently at Step Two of the authorities’ roadmap, allowing outside hospitality to reopen in England on April 12.

Alongside pubs, eating places, and cafes, non-critical shops and workout facilities are now open, with nearly four months of regulations.

From May 17, indoor hospitality may be allowed to reopen underneath Step Three, alongside museums, cinemas, and inns. Additionally, families might be able to meet inside at Christmas.

Certain processes are vital steps to ending quarantine over four months, fending off the usage of the tier machine utilised in 2020.

The first level applied to the whole of England starting March 8, with the next level being enforced starting March 29.

Step two began on April 12, and Step 3 will start no earlier than May 17. Step four will begin June 21 with the lifting of social contact limits.

It comes as one dose of both Pfizer/BioNTech or AstraZeneca injections brought about a third drop in instances and became seventy-four per cent powerful against symptomatic infection.

On April 28, Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, stated that the United Kingdom had acquired 60 million Pfizer injections to be used in the autumn for booster shots.

As of April 30, 34,216,087 residents had received one vaccine dose, with over 14.5 million have received both.

Roadmap to “unlock” lockdown

There are four steps to unlocking the lockdown. The dates below signify the earliest date for the start of each step. Delays may be possible should infection rates rise.

March 8, 2021

Schools, primary and secondary in England, will open. Students will require testing at school and at home.

Indoor and outdoor sports, including football and PE, are allowed at the discretion of each school. This also includes afterschool and extra-curricular activities.

Care home residents can again have single repeat visitors. Visitors must wear protective equipment and be Covid tested prior.

March 29, 2021

The rule of six has returned. This means one person from each of six families or two households could meet outdoors, in public spaces or in backyard garden areas.

Households are not restricted to their own geographical area.

Minimal travel is still encouraged, but there are no restrictions on a round trip /day travel.

Adult and child outdoor sports can resume as well as outdoor pools and gyms, driving/shooting ranges, riding and climbing venues.

Outdoor organised team/league sports are now allowed; indoor sports are not.

April 12, 2021

Nail and hair salons have reopened as of April 12.

Retail stores are now open until 10 pm. Single customers are advised to shop rather than entire households.

Pubs, pub gardens and restaurants were reopened, but only to dining outside. However, patrons still must comply with NHS Test and Trace.

Vaccine passports are not necessary.

Curfews are no longer required as well as any special restrictions for the serving of food and alcohol together. (No “scotch egg saga”-whew!)

Although limited, staycations are now permitted, but one household only permitted to stay elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

Air B and B, cottages and campsite rentals are allowed, but hotels and bed and breakfast places are not.

Zoos, as well as theme parks, are now open.

Wedding and wake attendance is limited to 15.

The 30 participant limit on funerals remains in place.

May 17, 2021

Starting May 17, groups of up to 6 people/families will be allowed indoors.

Marriage ceremonies and dinners, public gatherings for grieving, and existing religious ceremonies could possibly have up to 30 people.

Pubs and eating places will be open indoors, as well as two different families can be brought indoors. It may be lifted outdoors for groups of 30 or less for terrace dining with bar service.

Also, from May 17, college college students may return to in-person learning, changing from online lectures that had been the current standard. Even with an actual end date, some still feel discouraged. However, universities are permitting some students to return sooner for peace of mind. It comes as groups representing college students have made public appeals to uphold college students’ rights over politics during covid.

Inns and bed and breakfasts also can open, as well as indoor sports/fitness centre lessons.

Cinemas and theatre venues can open too, according to regional rules for capacity.

Regular outdoor activities can open with 4,000 attendees (50 % of occupancy) or whatever the lesser of the two may be.

Similarly, everyday indoor activities can with 1,000 attendees (or 50 % of occupancy) or whatever is the lesser of the two.

For large outside seated venues, there’s a particular limit. Up to 10,000 attendees may be allowed or 25 %, whatever the smaller of the two may be.

A non-crucial overseas tour might be allowed from May 17 also.

To help ease travel concerns, a Global Travel Taskforce has been established to keep tabs on which countries have covid safety measures in place for travellers. The task force initiated a “traffic light system” to help determine which countries are safe.

The traffic light system

English and Welsh travellers are waiting for the follow-up to a report by the Global Travel Taskforce. Scotland and Northern Ireland rules on international travel differ. The Global Travel Taskforce states that a coloured light system will be in place from Monday, May 17 2021 – though this date has not been confirmed.

The traffic light system will introduce a series of coloured lights (green, amber, and red), with each colour designating different rules around testing and quarantining.

GREEN

A pre-flight test within three days return to the UK.

A PCR test prior to day two days post-arrival in England/Wales.

No quarantine unless a test is positive.

AMBER

Quarantine at home ten days after arrival.

Fully vaccinated people could potentially avoid quarantine.

Mandatory hotel quarantine for ten days at £1,750 per traveller.

PCR test days two and eight of quarantine (part of hotel quarantine cost).

Quarantine package payment/agreement mandatory prior to departing for the UK.

TRAFFIC LIGHT COUNTRY LIST

As of April 20, 2021, this is the list of countries in the new system:

Malta, Caribbean, The USA, Israel, Portugal, Gibraltar, UAE

Spain, Denmark, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey

June 21, 2021

By this time, the UK is estimated to be near pre-pandemic conditions as feasible.

There can be no attendance limits at weddings and funerals.

Large venues and nightclubs will eventually reopen.

Government scientific advisers feel mask-wearing may lessen over the summer as the number of those vaccinated increases. This may be as close to normal as the public may get, even though there is always a possibility of a rise in virus rates in autumn.

Is another quarantine on the horizon?

Currently, with low covid death rates, Prime Minister Boris Johnson contends that there is not much evidence for a third lockdown.

However, at an April 20 press conference, Boris Johnson stated that we shouldn’t think the virus is gone and that we should “discover ways to stay with this disease as we stay with other illnesses”.

Johnson also admonished that the sizeable majority of scientists agree that the next virus spike could come in late 2021. He further stated that state that we ought to find ways to stay on top of the current virus, just like with other diseases.

The current shot initiative is running at full steam and has crushed goal dates in February and April. There may be a difficulty that new strains might be immune to the vaccine and result in infection increases.

A large increase in virus case infections and those infected dying has been reported in France and Germany. India has had an enormous increase in cases, and those infected dying after a new strain came to light.

Despite this, the authorities stated that the lockdown ends June 21 and is the final lockdown within the UK.

Boris Johnson’s April 20 address discussed the creation of a team of medical experts who will be tasked with developing new methods of virus eradication. The next briefing for this and other pandemic measures is anticipated for May 10.

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