Brits could soon be allowed ‘unlimited exercise’ from Monday as Boris Johnson prepares to ease some social-distancing measures.
The Prime Minister is due to announce his plan for exiting lockdown on Sunday, after nearly seven weeks of the public being told to stay at home. Health officials have reportedly already ordered their teams to remove the tagline ‘Stay at Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’ from websites and social media, starting Saturday night.
Allowing members of the public ‘unlimited exercise’ will be implemented from Monday as a reward for the nation staying inside since March 23, The Sun reports. The publication also claims picnics outdoors could be given the green light, and some businesses will be allowed to reopen.
Bosses who took their own decision to close due to the pandemic will reportedly be urged to let workers start returning to their jobs. This will mostly include construction workers, but some retail outlets may begin to lift their shutters.
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A senior government source told The Sun that Johnson is keen to reward the public and let them know the ‘all the effort they’ve put in is delivering progress’.
They stated that the PM is happy to ‘let off the brake a bit and see what happens’, adding that if the new rules can be kept, further relaxing of the restrictions will soon follow suit.
He is also expected to lay out a timeline for when the British public can expect each measure to end. Reports suggest the government is aiming for schools to return by early June.
The UK was put into lockdown on March 23, with the decision then extended for at-least another three weeks on April 16. By law, ministers must review the restrictions every three weeks and share the results with the public.
The country currently has the highest death toll in Europe, after it surpassed Italy earlier this week. So-far, more than 30,000 people have died after testing positive for Covid-19 in the UK, while there are more than 200,000 cases of the virus.
Ministers desperately want to avoid a second wave of the virus by lifting social-distancing measures too early. Chief scientific advisor Sir Patrick Vallance has told MPs he is ‘optimistic’ this can be avoided through continued testing and tracing across the nation.
Earlier today Johnson pledged that the government would reach 200,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of May, despite having not reached 100,000 for the last four days.
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