Boris Johnson announces further lifting of lockdown rules

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Boris Johnson announced the four tests have been met to ease lockdown measures, one of which being the ongoing successful rollout of the vaccine programme. This means after months of closures, restaurants, pubs, cinemas and bars will be able to finally reopen from Monday, May 17 in England. Monday also marks the easing of many social contact rules, with people permitted to hug for the first time since lockdown first began.

What are the Covid rules from May 17?

Social contact

From May 17, people will be permitted to meet indoors and stay overnight in other people’s homes for the first time in months.

People can meet indoors in groups of six from different households, or in a group of two households.

The ‘rule of six’ will be dropped in outdoor settings, so groups of up to 30 people can meet outdoors.

Up to 30 people will also be able to attend life events, such as weddings and receptions.

Care home residents are allowed to have up to five named visitors from May 17, as well as having more freedom for visits outside of care homes.

Hugging is also permitted once again, but people are advised to be cautious of the risks.

There will no longer be a cap on the number of people who can attend a funeral, although caps will be set depending on the size of the venue.

Up to 30 people will also be able to attend a parent and child group or a support group.

Hospitality and entertainment

Hospitality and entertainment venues will be permitted to open their indoor premises from May 17.

This includes restaurants, pubs, bars, cinemas, bowling alleys and bingo halls, among other venues.

Theatres, sports stadiums and concert halls are also able to reopen, as are conference centres.

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Some limits remain on how many people can attend events and performances, but indoor events will have a capacity of 1,000 or 50 percent, whichever is less.

Outdoor venues can host events with a capacity of 4,000 people or 50 percent, whichever is lower.

Large venues with outdoor seating, such as football stadiums, can have up to 10,000 people attend or a capacity of 25 percent, whichever is lower.

The accommodation sector can also reopen, including hotels, hostels and B&Bs.

When will Step 4 of the roadmap begin?

The earliest possible date Step 4 will begin in England is June 21.

On this date, nightclubs could reopen and the remaining limits on social contact and events could come to an end.

On Sunday Health Minister Matt Hancock announced when the Government will make its decision on Step 4’s date.

He told Sky News: “We’ll make a final decision for the Step 4, which is the biggest step on the roadmap, we’ll make that final decision on June 14.”

There are concerns the rising number of Covid cases in the UK due to the Indian Covid variant could delay the proposed Step 4 date of June 21.

Mr Hancock told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show the Indian variant is “quite likely” to become the “dominant variant” in the UK, but added there is “increasing confidence” the vaccines works against it.

He said: “I think it’s quite likely this will become the dominant variant. We don’t know exactly how much more transmissible it is but I think it is likely it will become the dominant variant here.

“What that reinforces is the importance of people coming forward for testing and being careful because this isn’t over yet.

“But the good news is because we have increasing confidence that the vaccine works against the variant, the strategy is on track – it’s just the virus has just gained a bit of pace and we’ve therefore all got to be that bit much more careful and cautious.”

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