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Appearing in the House of Commons before tonight’s press briefing, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, sets out the roadmap steps for easing out of lockdown to the public.

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The announcement comes following the success of the vaccine rollout, however Boris Johnson says “no vaccine can ever be 100% effective”. Plans put into action involve the reopening of hairdressers, retail shops, gym facilities, outdoor settings, and more on April 12th as part of the second step in the coronavirus roadmap.

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Increasing the number of vaccines per month is a major gateway in pushing the country forward to coming closer in a normal return to society. It will be based on “data not dates” the Prime Minister states.

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Step One:

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First plan to ease the national lockdown,

• March 8th following: Groups of two will be permitted to meet one another in outdoor public spaces like parks for activities such as coffee, relaxation, or a picnic. Schools will reopen with the allowance of outdoor after school activities and sports. Those children inside schools will be required to wear face masks inside of the buildings.

• ​March 29th following: Groups of six or two households will be permitted to for outside gatherings. Including private garden parties, outdoor sport facilities such as basketball, football, tennis etc.

​Step Two:

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Second plan to ease the national lockdown,

• April 12th following:

• The reopening of non-essential shops, hairdressers, and public facilities such as art galleries, museums, and libraries.

• The reopening of outdoor venues such as beer gardens, zoos, theme parks, and alcohol takeaways.

• The reopening of indoor leisure centres such as swimming pools and workout facilities.

• The reopening of isolated holiday accommodation such as self-catering lets and camp sites.

• Hospitality curfews will be stopped.

• Funerals will allow for up to 30 people and weddings will allow for up to 15 people.

With these restrictions being lifted, the wider social contact rules will remain in place, so indoors mixing between two different households will still be against the rules.

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Additionally, the announcement of a review whether to change the international travel restrictions will come on April 12th.

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Step Three:

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Third plan to ease the national lockdown will come depending on whether the ‘data’ allows for it.

• May 17th following:

• The “rule of six” will be stopped for outdoor gatherings and replaced by a rule of up to 30 people.

• Two households will be able to mix indoors with the rule of six applying to indoor hospitality facilities such as pubs.

• The reopening of cinemas, hotels, performances and sporting events with the social distancing measures properly in place.

• An allowance of up to 10,000 attendees at big public venues such as football stadiums.

• An allowance of up to 30 people at weddings, receptions, funerals, and wakes.

​Step Four:

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Fourth plan to ease the national lockdown will be on June 21st to remove all legal restrictions set in place for social contact, finally reopening the last remaining facilities in the closure of the economic sector, such as nightclubs.

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Mandatory tests for each phase of the lockdown restrictions lifting are,

• The national vaccine rollout continues as expected.

• The data shows the number of deaths is decreasing in accordance to the vaccine rollout.

• The risk of infection rates causing a surge in hospital admissions does not occur.

• The new variants of the coronavirus do not pose a change enough to warrant the increased period of the lockdown restrictions.

Further information will be provided in tonight’s downing street briefing at 19:00 GMT.

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