Boris Johnson has today revealed his plan to get the UK through the next stage of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the Prime Minister’s ‘conditional’ road map for the coming months, he said he hopes the UK may be able to get back to ‘near-normal’ by Christmas.

He is setting out what he says may be an ‘optimistic’ vision to revive the economy and get workers back to the office.

Mr Johnson, who said he is ‘planning for the worst but hoping for the best’, also announced the NHS will receive an extra £3 billion in funding to prepare for a possible second wave of the pandemic.

He said at today’s press conference: ‘It’s possible that the virus will be more virulent in the winter months and it’s certain that the NHS will face the usual annual winter pressures.

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‘We’re making sure we’re ready for winter and planning for the worst.

‘But even as we plan for the worst I strongly believe we should hope for the best.

‘That means looking ahead with optimism, now extending our plan to lift the remaining national measures, which have restricted our lives since March, so we can get back to something closer to normal life.’

It comes after a warning there could be 120,000 hospital deaths over the winter in the UK in a ‘reasonable worst-case scenario’.

Downing Street said the funding will allow extra hospital capacity while allowing routine treatments and procedures to continue.

Main takeaways from today’s press conference

• Councils will be given powers to implement fast local lockdowns
• Beauty treatments on the face to be allowed from August 1
• Sports stadiums could be filled by the autumn
• Wedding receptions of up to 30 people will be allowed
• Employers will be able to decide when offices reopen

It will also mean private hospital capacity can be used and Nightingale hospitals can be maintained until the end of March 2021.

Stockpiles of protective equipment such as masks and gowns will also be built up again.

The PM also announced plans for ‘lightning lockdowns’ – the fast implementation of measures to halt the spread of the virus in local areas.

Councils will be given powers to shut pubs and cafés without going to Government first. The rules will allow town hall bosses to ban weddings and other gatherings at short notice.

Mr Johnson said: ‘From tomorrow, local authorities will have new powers in their areas.

‘They will be able to close specific premises, shut public outdoor spaces and cancel events.

‘These powers will enable local authorities to act more quickly in response to outbreaks where speed is paramount.

‘Action by local councils will not always be sufficient, so next week we will publish draft regulations on how central government can intervene more effectively at a local level.

‘Where justified by the evidence, ministers will be able to close whole sectors or types of premises in an area, introduce local stay-at-home orders, prevent people entering or leaving defined areas, reduce the size of gatherings beyond the national defined rules or restrict transport systems serving local areas.’

Test and trace chief Dido Harding is joining the PM at the press conference to explain how the plans will work.

The PM said he hopes to allow wedding receptions of up to 30 people and larger scale, controlled events and conferences in the autumn.

The PM said he will formally drop the official guidance to ‘work from home if you can’ from August 1, which has been in place since the lockdown began in March.

Mr Johnson said in an online question and answer session with the public on Friday: ‘I want people to go back to work as carefully as possible. It’s very important that people should be going back to work if they can now.

‘I think everybody has sort of taken the “stay at home if you can” – I think we should now say, well, “Go back to work if you can”.

‘Because I think it’s very important that people should try to lead their lives more normally.

‘I want to see more people feeling confident to use the shops, use the restaurants, and get back into work – but only if we all follow the guidance.’

A Whitehall source confirmed that the official guidance would be ‘tidied up’ to reflect the PM’s back-to-work message.

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