Boris Johnson Unveils 4-Step Plan To Reopen UK In June

England’s lockdowns could be easing up soon with a new four-step plan, according to a BBC report.

Under plans by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, from March 8, schools would be open, the plan says, and after school activities would be included. Recreation in outdoor public spaces like parks would be allowed, along with meetings between two people to do things like get coffee together.

Then on March 29, outdoor gatherings of up to six people or two households will be permitted and outdoor sports facilities will reopen, BBC reports.

Under the plan, shops, hairdressers, gyms and outdoor hospitality could reopen by April 12.

After May 17, then, people might be able to mix between two different households. And the rule of six could apply for pubs, the report says.

The plan will come with gaps of at least five weeks after the initial two steps to gauge how things are going and allow for reporting on infection and hospitalization rates, BBC writes.

The plan would require four tests on vaccines, infection rates and new COVID-19 variants to be met at every stage, the report says. Johnson said the plan would be going by a rule of “cautious but irreversible” and said things would operate on a basis of data, not dates. He said there was “no credible route” to a zero-COVID Britain — or a zero-COVID world for that matter.

Later on, Johnson also said his hope was that the coming months would “look and feel better” for everyone, BBC reported.

The U.K. economy has contracted to levels heretofore not seen in the past 300 years, with 2020 being the worst year on record since 1709, according to reports from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The overall drop, which saw the GDP declining by 4.1 percent, was the biggest among the G7 economies, and the output of goods expanded 1 percent between October and December.