Coronavirus UK: Boris Johnson reveals full lockdown exit plan

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Boris Johnson was confronted with public frustration over his lockdown exit strategy tonight as he tried to explain how they will work in detail – and why families still cannot be reunited.

As Britons tried to make sense of the new rules, the PM was challenged at a Downing Street briefing this evening over what people should do if they bumped into friends or relatives at the park.

Meanwhile, Pooja in Solihull demanded to know why new instructions on who could get to work are ‘so vague’. And a teacher asked why they were being told to mix with children but could not see their loved ones. 

Mr Johnson did not address what happened if friends encounter each other by chance while out exercising, merely stressing that socialising should still only happen with one person from another household – and even then two-metre social distancing must be observed. 

And he conceded that the new arrangements he was laying out were ‘more complicated’ than the old ‘stay at home’ mantra. 

‘It’s when you come to take small steps back to normality, as we are now, that clearly the message becomes finer, more complicated,’ he said. 

‘We’re saying that if you can’t work from home you should talk to your employer about getting back to work, but explained: ‘We’re insisting that it’s got to be safe at work and safe to get there.’ 

Amid an increasingly bitter split with Nicola Sturgeon over changing the core message to ‘stay alert’, Mr Johnson said: ‘Stay alert for the vast majority of people still means stay at home as much as possible.’

Speaking at the Downing Street press briefing, Mr Johnson said: ‘What we are saying is that you can go to the park to exercise on your own in an unlimited way, you can go with members of your own household. 

The bruising exchanges came as Mr Johnson tried to move on from a shambolic launch to the changes – with No10 and Dominic Raab embarrassingly at odds over when the measures come into force and exactly how they will operate.     

The 50-page ‘road map’ stressed that the five tests have not yet been met, and so major loosening of the draconian curbs is not possible.  

But the document said ‘smarter’ social distancing measures are being introduced to try and nudge the country back to some sort of normality. In the future restrictions will be targeted ‘more precisely’, recognising that ‘not everybody’s or every group’s risk is the same’. It holds out the prospect of non-essential shop, TV sports and weddings starting to resume from next month – with the prospect of allowing people to socialise outside their own households in small ‘bubbles’.

However, it leaves no doubt that hairdressers, pubs and foreign holidays are much further off.  

The overhaul will also only apply to England, as Ms Sturgeon and her counterparts in Wales and Northern Ireland have signalled they will stick to the previous hardline ‘stay at home’ message.  

On another turbulent day as the country digested the implications of the government’s new plans: 

• The UK has announced a further 210 victims of coronavirus today – the lowest daily increase since March 26, as the official number of victims topped 32,000; 
• New analysis has suggested people working in social care, including care workers and home carers, along with bus drivers and security guards have ‘significantly’ higher death rates involving Covid-19 than the working population as a whole; 
• Despite the ‘road map’ being published, guidance for health and safety in workplaces will not be released until tomorrow;
• Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme, said some countries are setting themselves up for ‘blind driving’ in their relaxation of certain measures; 
• The viewing figures for Mr Johnson’s big speech were 27.49million last night, higher than the 27.1million for his original lockdown announcement and more than the 23.3million for the Queen. It was the eighth most-watched programme in British history;  
• British Airways has warned that the 14-day quarantine rule for arrivals in the UK could mean it does not start flights in July as expected; 
• Jury trials in England and Wales are to resume from next week, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett has announced;
• Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has called on the Government to ‘sweep aside the secrecy’ surrounding Sage, with the publication of its recommendations as well as dissenting views;  

As he came under fire at the briefing tonight, Mr Johnson said: ‘If you want to meet somebody from outside your household, it’s got to be you and that other person just as a pair and you should observe social distancing while you’re there.

‘And so each of you basically on a one-on-one thing but with social distancing, keeping two metres apart.’

Natasha from Richmond asked Mr Johnson why she could be returning to work as a primary school teacher but was still not permitted to see family.

The Prime Minister said ‘there is new scope to see one other member of your family somewhere outdoors’ but added: ‘I hope you understand the constraints we’re under.

‘We have to keep this disease at bay, we have to advance very gradually.’

Mr Johnson was pressed by a woman from the Lake District on why he had not imposed a limit on people travelling to take exercise, raising concerns that beauty spots would be swamped. 

‘What we’re saying is we want people to be able to use the outdoors to be able to exercise in an unlimited way outdoors but they’ve got to obey social distancing,’ Mr Johnson said.

‘So there can’t be any question of people just going off for holidays for staying in places like the Lake District, if they do go to exercise, it’s got to be done with social distancing.’

Responding to a question from John, from Londonderry, Mr Johnson said there will be no control points on the borders even if the devolved governments take different strategies to easing the lockdown.

He said: ‘There’ll be no checks, nothing is intended between Ireland and Northern Ireland and similarly you wouldn’t expect anything between GB and Northern Ireland.

‘What we really want people to do in this country is to look at our social distancing measures that we’re proposing.

‘All four nations totally understand what those social distancing measures are and apply them with common sense.’

He added: ‘I think it’s the common sense of the British people that has been so crucial and the whole of the UK in getting the R down.

‘Everybody understood roughly what to do in the first phase and it’s by applying common sense that I think we will be successful in this second phase as well.’

Mr Johnson also faced a challenge from John from Midlothian, who demanded to know ‘who I should listen to’ given the PM and Ms Sturgeon are striking such different tones. The premier responded that he thought all parts of the UK were committed to working together. 

The new guidelines say those who can should continue to work from home ‘for the foreseeable future’, and pointed to full health and safety guidelines due to be published tomorrow. 

In a stark warning, Mr Johnson also told the briefing that although a vaccine was a way out of the crisis it was ‘by no means guaranteed’ to happen. ‘Even after 18 years we still don’t have a vaccine for SARS,’ he said. 

From Wednesday all workers are being urged to return to duties in sectors such as food production, construction, manufacturing, logistics, distribution and scientific research in laboratories. 

‘The only exceptions to this are those workplaces such as hospitality and non-essential retail which during this first step the Government is requiring to remain closed,’ the document said. 

The plan said schools cannot yet fully reopen, but said more key workers should be encouraged to send their children. ‘There is a large societal benefit from vulnerable children, or the children of critical workers, attending school: local authorities and schools should therefore urge more children who would benefit from attending in person to do so,’ it said. 

Face coverings are being advised for people on public transport and in enclosed spaces – something that happened in Scotland a fortnight ago. 

The document also corrected another blunder overnight, stating clearly that people are able to play outdoor sports such as tennis or golf with one other person from another household. 

In the Commons earlier, Mr Johnson said he was putting his faith in ‘good solid, British common sense’. ‘It’s worked throughout phase one and I’ve no doubt it’s going to work in the second phase as well,’ he said. 

Mr Johnson said:  ‘We have begun our descent from the peak of the epidemic but our journey has reached the most perilous moment where a wrong move could be disastrous.

‘So at this stage we can go no further than to announce the first careful modification of our measures.’

He said: ‘This is a supremely difficult balance to strike.

‘There could be no greater mistake than to jeopardise everything we’ve striven to achieve by proceeding too far and too fast.

‘We will be driven not by hope or economic revival as an end in itself, but by data and science and public health.’

He also said that random spot inspections will be carried out in workplaces to ensure staff feel safe when returning to work.

Asked why some low-skilled workers, who are more vulnerable to coronavirus, are being actively encouraged to return to work from Wednesday, the Prime Minister said ‘there’s no question that it is falling hardest on certain groups’.

‘I want to be clear that yes, in saying that people who can’t work from home should now go to work, we are absolutely, categorical, that their workplace, your workplace must be safe, must be Covid-secure and employers will not be allowed to get away with forcing people to work in conditions that are not Covid-secure,’ he added.

‘Everyone must obey social distancing and we’re going to have a lot more inspections by the Health and Safety Executive, we’ll have a random spot inspections to check that companies are doing the right thing.

‘If people find themselves in conditions that they think are unsafe, then they should immediately report it and we will take action, and that goes for all work.

‘We’re not expecting this week, a huge change, we’re simply encouraging those, in those sectors that we’ve outlined, who can’t work from home now to talk to their employers and to go to work.’

Mr Johnson encouraged people to drive, walk or cycle to work, but also told MPs: ‘With more activity outside our homes we’d now advise people to wear a cloth face covering in enclosed spaces where social distancing is not always possible and you’re more likely to come into contact with people you don’t normally meet.

‘Face coverings can help to protect each other and reduce the spread of the disease, particularly if you have coronavirus-like symptoms.

‘But this does not mean wearing medical face masks… which must be reserved for people who need them.’  

Mr Johnson said ‘we can’t do anything for swimming pools’ but changes to allow people to access lakes and the sea will kick in from Wednesday because there is a ‘lower risk outdoors than indoors’, reiterating there will be no limits on the frequency of outdoor exercise during the easing of the lockdown measures. 

‘You can now walk, sit and rest in parks, you can play sports and exercise and you can do all these things with members of your own household or with one other person from another household provided you observe social distancing and remain two metres apart,’ he said. ‘I do hope that’s clear.’

Mr Johnson said fines will be increased for rule breakers, starting from £100 and doubling with each infringement to £3,600.

‘You can drive as far as you like to reach an outdoor space subject to the same rules and laws and guidance of the devolved administrations,’ the PM said.

‘I’m sorry to say we shall continue to ask those who are clinically vulnerable, including pregnant women and people over 70, or those with pre-existing chronic conditions to take particular care to minimise contact with those outside their households, and we must continue to shield people who are extremely vulnerable – they should remain at home and avoid any direct contact with others.’ 

Seeking to give a glimpse of hope for divided families, Mr Johnson said he had instructed the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) to look into when people from two different households might be able to meet safely.

Mr Johnson told MPs: ‘Nothing can substitute for human contact and so the Government has asked Sage when and how we can safely allow people to expand their household group to include one other household on a strictly reciprocal basis.’

Labour’s Keir Starmer said the country needed ‘clarity and reassurance and at the moment both are in pretty short supply’. 

‘There’s not consensus either on messaging now or on policy between the UK Government and those in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland,’ he said.

Mr Johnson replied that people had followed the stay at home advice ‘more thoroughly than many other populations around the world’.

In an acknowledgment that the new guidance is more complicated, added: ‘Clearly when you’re coming out of a message that is so gloriously simple as stay at home, there will inevitably be complexities that he’s rightly alluded to.’ 

But he tried to paper over tensions between the UK nations, saying: ‘There is a very, very strong desire to move forward as four nations together… We all share this strong view that you should stay at home if you can, that remains the position. So the steps we’re taking today are modest steps entirely governed by the science.’ 

Mr Johnson also warned employers not to punish workers who struggle to comply with the new system. ‘We will count on employers to be reasonable. If people can’t go to work because they can’t get the childcare that they need, then plainly they are impeded from going to work and they must be defended and protected on that basis,’ he said.  

The road map insists all steps are ‘conditional’ on the fight against the virus going well, but says from next month, primary schools could start to get back up and running for reception, year 1 and year 6. 

However, classes will be kept small, and the majority of secondaries are set to stay closed until September.

‘The Government’s ambition is for all primary school children to return to school before the summer for a month if feasible,’ the plan said. Parents will not face fines for refusing to send their children. 

At this point the government will also look at ‘permitting cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed-doors for broadcast, while avoiding the risk of large-scale social contact’. 

More non-essential shops will also start to be opened – although hairdressers and beauty salons are not likely to return until July at the earliest.  

The document also sets out how families and friends might be able to mix from next month, if the virus remains under control.  

‘As restrictions continue, the Government is considering a range of options to reduce the most harmful social effects to make the measures more sustainable.

‘For example, the Government has asked SAGE to examine whether, when and how it can safely change the regulations to allow people to expand their household group to include one other household in the same exclusive group.

‘The intention of this change would be to allow those who are isolated some more social contact, and to reduce the most harmful effects of the current social restrictions, while continuing to limit the risk of chains of transmission. It would also support some families to return to work by, for example, allowing two households to share childcare.

‘This could be based on the New Zealand model of household ‘bubbles’ where a single ‘bubble’ is the people you live with.

‘As in New Zealand, the rationale behind keeping household groups small is to limit the number of social contacts people have and, in particular, to limit the risk of inter-household transmissions.’

The road map said the Government is also examining how to hold ‘small weddings’. However, there is no reference in the material to foreign holidays – suggesting they are off the agenda for a long time to come. 

Speaking to MPs this afternoon, Mr Johnson said: ‘Our challenge now is to find a way forward that preserves our hard-won gains while easing with the burden of lockdown. And I will be candid with the House, this is a supremely difficult balance to strike.

‘There could be no greater mistake than to jeopardise everything we’ve striven to achieve by proceeding too far and too fast.

‘We will be driven not by hope or economic revival as an end in itself, but by data and science and public health.’

Sir Patrick Vallance, England’s chief scientific adviser, said experts were confident the measures announced by the UK Government would not increase the rate of transmission of coronavirus.

‘From a scientific point of view, the review was happy that the first wave of proposals were unlikely to push R above one,’ he told reporters during a briefing.

‘And then it needs to be monitored very carefully thereafter.’ 

Addressing the new advice which allows more outdoor contact, Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, said: ‘There is a little bit of room for manoeuvre, the numbers are going down.

‘We are confident the R is below one already, that’s the first bit of background to this.

‘Secondly we are confident that the risk of being outdoors, in terms of meeting people, provided it is with social distancing, is significantly lower than that of indoors.

‘We are confident these quite small changes will not have a material affect, on their own, provided people stick to the social distancing and the rules that are there, on increasing the R beyond where we are at the moment.’ 

Prof Chris Whitty said the changes to the Government guidelines for England were about making ‘sustainable’ alterations for the long term.

‘There are clear benefits to making this sustainable,’ he told reporters.

‘We have to do this for the long haul, it is really important to understand that.

‘Taking a very small risk for something which manages to make it more sustainable for people to do has some clear benefits.

‘We are not claiming there are no risks in this but what we think is that they are very small and proportionate to the advantage of overall wellbeing, exercise leading to good health and sustainability.’

In a grim foreword to the plan, the PM said ‘we must acknowledge that life will be different, at least for the foreseeable future’. Mr Johnson warned that a vaccine was the main long-term way out of the crisis, but the plan cautioned that ‘it is possible a safe and effective vaccine will not be developed for a long time (or even ever)’. 

Earlier, the government’s stance was thrown into confusion as Dominic Raab was forced to clarify Mr Johnson’s call in a speech last night for millions of workers to return to duties immediately.

The Foreign Secretary insisted the government is not urging workers to return until Wednesday, despite No10’s official press release on the PM’s TV address saying they should go back today. 

The comment, when many will have already been on their way by road or public transport, came as it emerged that health and safety guidance for businesses will not be issued until tomorrow – 24 hours before the back to work edict now comes into force.   

Mr Raab spread more turmoil by suggesting that people can meet two relatives such as parents in parks while maintaining social distancing, sending Downing Street scrambling to say that is not in fact the case. 

He also got in a muddle and suggested that pubs could open as early as June – when the PM said it would be no earlier than July. 

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Government’s strategy to ease the lockdown was already ‘unravelling’ within hours of it being announced – while Unite union baron Len McCluskey stoked up class war rhetoric by saying ministers were ‘recklessly’ telling manual labourers to risk their own safety while the wealthy stay at home. 

Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon demanded that Mr Johnson stop telling Scots what to do, saying she would ban the new ‘stay alert’ public information campaign from being aired north of the border because the ‘vague’ words could put lives at risk.   

Here is how the government’s three-step plan to ease the lockdown shapes up: 

STEP ONE

Work 

From Wednesday, a series of tweaks will be implemented in England – although the rules in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will not necessarily be the same.

The document said that people should work from home ‘wherever possible’ for the ‘foreseeable future’, to ‘minimise the number of social contacts across the country’.

In an attempt to blow away any stigma for those who do carry on doing their jobs, the plan said: ‘All those who work are contributing taxes that help pay for the healthcare provision on which the UK relies. 

‘People who are able to work at home make it possible for people who have to attend workplaces in person to do so while minimising the risk of overcrowding on transport and in public places.’ 

But even if they cannot work from home, most people are now being ‘actively encouraged’ to go back.  

‘The only exceptions to this are those workplaces such as hospitality and non-essential retail which during this first step the Government is requiring to remain closed,’ the blueprint said.

The plan said ‘COVID-19 Secure’ guidelines will be produced this week, but merely stated that businesses should follow these ‘as soon as practicable’ – leaving a considerable degree of uncertainty about how and when workers can be reassured about safety.

Anyone who displays symptoms should isolate as was advised before.

Schools

The document admits that the ‘rate of infection remains too high’ to allow reopening of schools ‘for all pupils’.

But it insisted that there is a ‘large societal benefit’ from vulnerable children and the offspring of key workers attending school. ‘Local authorities and schools should therefore urge more children who would benefit from attending in person to do so,’ it added.

The Government is also amending its guidance to allow for nannies and childminders, saying it will ‘enable more working parents to return’.

Travel

The plan stressed that ‘most journeys to work involve people travelling either by bike, by car or on foot’.

But it conceded that public transport is critical, ‘particularly in urban centres and at peak times’.

The blueprint said ‘everybody (including critical workers) should continue to avoid public transport wherever possible’, instead cycling, walking or driving.  

Moves are under way to widen pavements, create pop-up cycle lanes, and close some roads in cities to traffic to enable other social-distancing friendly transport methods.

Face coverings 

The document said in this stage face coverings will help people avoid transmitting the disease to others if they have it without any symptoms.

It added that homemade cloth face-coverings can help reduce the risk, but surgical masks or respirators should continue to be reserved for healthcare workers.

Ministers added that face coverings should not be used by children aged under two or those with respiratory conditions.

People who may find it difficult to manage the masks correctly such as primary age children unassisted are also advised not to wear them.

Officials said the new guidance was being issued in response to there being ‘more movement outside people’s immediate household’ as people start returning to work.

Public spaces

In a loosening that will come as a huge relief in England, the once-a-day restriction on exercise is being lifted.

You can spend time outside with one other person outside your household, as long as you stay two metres apart. This means tennis or golf with another person is now allowed. 

However, team sports are still off limits, as are playgrounds and outdoor gyms. 

People may travel as far as they want to get to outdoor spaces, and are permitted to stop and sunbathe as long as they keep two metres from anyone not in their own household.

That means, for example, people can drive to the beach and park, before sunning themselves.  

In acknowledgement of the widening splits across the UK, the document noted that ‘it is important that people respect the rules in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and do not travel to different parts of the UK where it would be inconsistent with guidance or regulations’. 

The plan noted: ‘These measures may come with some risk; it is important that everyone continues to act responsibly, as the large majority have done to date. The infection rate will increase if people begin to break these rules and, for example, mix in groups in parks, which will trigger the need for further restrictions.’

Tougher fines, of up to £3,200 are being introduced to help enforce the increasingly complex rules.  

Travel

As the outbreak subsides in the UK, there will be action to prevent ‘leakage’ in from abroad.  

All international arrivals will need to supply contact and accommodation information. ‘They will also be strongly advised to download and use the NHS contact tracing app,’ the document said.

‘Second, the Government will require all international arrivals not on a short list of exemptions to self-isolate in their accommodation for fourteen days on arrival into the UK.’

However, there is no deadline for these measures to be introduced, with the plan merely saying ‘as soon as possible’.

STEP TWO 

Schools and shops reopen and ‘family bubbles’ allowed

Step Two will not be implemented until June 1 at the earliest and the Government will give at least 48 hours notice that changes are to be made.

The biggest measure for families across Britain is the prospective return to school and nursery of thousands of children.

Teachers have been told to prepare to reopen their doors on June 1, with reception, year one and year six pupils the first to go back, in smaller classes.

The strategy said that the ambition is for all primary school children to return to school before the summer holidays for a month ‘if feasible’ – but this will be kept under review.

Secondary schools and further education colleges should prepare to begin some ‘face-to-face contact’ with Year 10 and 12 students who have key exams next year.

However, ministers face a potential problem in the shape of reticent teachers and parents. More than 380,000 people have signed a petition urging the Government to give parents a choice on sending their children back to school if they reopen next month.

And Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said: ‘Parents are quite rightly concerned about the risks to their children, not just at school but on their daily journeys to and from school.

‘This in turn threatens the safety of adults in the school community: parents, families, teachers, heads and support staff.

‘Social distancing for younger children will be difficult to achieve and for others there will be the issues of narrow corridors and classrooms that just aren’t big enough to allow social distancing.’

In response to parents, the Government announced that fines usually levelled for truanting would not apply if parents did not send their children back to school.

Step two would also allow the creation of ‘family bubbles’. The idea is that two branches of a family could be allowed to socialise together, allowing things like grandparents access to see their grandchildren and visa versa. 

Sage has been asked to look at ways of making this possible, with more information nearer the time, with the guidance saying: ‘The intention of this change would be to allow those who are isolated some more social contact, and to reduce the most harmful effects of the current social restrictions, while continuing to limit the risk of chains of transmission. 

‘It would also support some families to return to work by, for example, allowing two households to share childcare.’

Further proposals are being looked at for larger groups to gather to allow weddings to go ahead with small congregations. 

Stage two would also allow for the return of sporting and cultural events, albeit behind closed doors.

A slew of events including Glastonbury, Wimbledon and the British Grand Prix have already been cancelled and are unlikely to be resurrected this year.

But the plans to allow ‘cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed-doors for broadcast, while avoiding the risk of large-scale social contact’, would allow professional sports like football, rugby and cricket to resume in early summer.

This would also coincide with the reopening of the UK high street. Non-essential retailers, who have been closed since March at huge cost to the taxpayer, are expected to open in phases from June 1.

Rather than one flinging open of doors the Government warned it will be done in phases and that bars, pubs and restaurants, and ‘personal care’ like hairdressers and beauty salons, will remain closed because of the higher risk of infection.  

Because of the expected increase in movement during this phase, it will also see more public transport return.

Buses and trains have been operating a limited service since march because demand fell off a cliff. 

Step three 

Something approaching normal – but some businesses could still be stuck in limbo

Stage three is not expected to come into force until July 4, US Independence Day, at the earliest. 

Plans would include the reopening of businesses that were still closed: pubs, restaurants and hotels, hairdressers and beauty salons, churches and lesiure facilities like cinemas,.

But there is still a caveat at this stage that some places will not be able to open.

‘Some venues which are, by design, crowded and where it may prove difficult to enact distancing may still not be able to re-open safely at this point, or may be able to open safely only in part,’ it warns,

‘Nevertheless the Government will wish to open as many businesses and public places as the data and information at the time allows.’

It adds that it will watch places around the world that are already emerging from their lockdown and use them as guide as to how premises could open safely.

But it does raise the possibility that some  businesses will potentially still have their doors closed heading in to the autumn, raising the spectre of job losses over the summer.