Boris Johnson attempted to bring the coronavirus-battered UK High Street back to life tonight as he gave the go-ahead for businesses to reopen – some within days.
Outdoor markets and car showrooms will be allowed to reopen from June 1 as long as they adhere to strict social distancing guidelines, the Prime Minister announced.
Speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing at Downing Street this evening he also have the go-ahead for non-essential shops, including department stores and independent businesses, to lift their shutters from June 15.
The move will provide a welcome boost for businesses forced to close in March at a huge financial cost to themselves and to the Treasury, which has spent hundreds of billions of pounds keeping them afloat and their staff paid.
But tonight’s announcement came as Mr Johnson faces massive political pressure to sack his chief aide Dominic Cummings.
The timing is likely to fuel suspicion among politician opponents that he has pulled this positive news out of his hat to deflect attention from the huge political fallout.
The reopening is likely to spark a sales frenzy as shops try to emerge from the pandemic-induced wreckage of the economy, while consumers will be glad to leave the house.
But because of movement restrictions it is unlikely o be an immediate free-for-all – and hospitality businesses like pubs and restaurants will remain closed.
All shops wanting to reopen will have to follow new guidance, set to be released today, with Mr Johnson warning that the government will have powers to enforce the new rules if necessary.
And the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, Adam Marshall, tonight said: ‘Businesses will be taking a safe, proportionate and risk-based approach to returning to work, in close consultation with their staff.
‘For many this will be an entirely new way of operating as they apply guidance to the practical realities of their business.’
Outdoor markets and car showrooms will be allowed to reopen from June 1, if they adhere to strict social distancing guidelines, the Prime Minister announced at the daily coronavirus press conference at Downing Street this evening
Speaking at the conference tonight, Mr Johnson said: ‘Today I want to put the retail sector on notice of our intention to reopen shops so they can get ready to reopen.
‘So I can announce that it is our intention to allow outdoor markets to reopen on June 1, subject to premises being Covid secure, as well as car showrooms which often have sufficient out door space.
‘From June 15 we intend to allow all other non-essential retail, ranging from department stores to small independent shops to reopen.
‘We will set out our formal assessment of the five tests that we set for adjusting the lockdown later this week as part of the three-weekly review we are legally required to undertake by Thursday.
‘But because of the progress we are making I can, with confidence, put the British people on notice of the changes we intend to introduce as we move to step two.
‘We know that the transmission of the virus is lower outdoors and that it is easier to follow Covid secure guidelines in open spaces.’
Mr Johnson added that the government will today publish social distancing guidelines to help shops become ‘Covid secure’ before reopening.
He said: ‘This will ensure there can be no doubt about what steps should be taken.
‘We will of course have powers to enforce these conditions, where it is required.’
From June 15, the government intends to allow all other non-essential retail, including department stores, to reopen. Pictured: Department store Debenhams
Independent retailers will also be allowed to reopen from June 15, the government today announced. Pictured: A high street on the Isle of Man
The boost to retail comes as government figures, released today, showed there had been 121 more deaths related to coronavirus across all settings, taking the official death toll to almost 37,000.
It marks the lowest Monday death toll since the UK’s draconian lockdown was enforced on March 23 (74 deaths). For comparison, 160 fatalities were announced last Monday and 118 were recorded yesterday. But officials warn that death numbers released on Sundays and Mondays are usually significantly smaller due to a delay in processing fatalities over the weekend.
Department of Health chiefs also announced 1,625 more Covid-19 cases today, the first time the UK has recorded fewer than 2,000 positive tests in the space of 24 hours in almost nine weeks. Separate figures showed 8,800 Brits are currently in hospital being treated for coronavirus – down 12 per cent in a week.
The Prime Minister’s announcement in the Downing Street press conference tonight came after his aide Dominic Cummings refused to apologise for driving 260 miles to Durham during the coronavirus lockdown.
Vote Leave maverick Mr Cummings – who is facing calls to be sacked – faced accusations of ‘double standards’ but he told a press conference in the Number 10 Rose Garden: ‘I don’t regret what I did.’
In other developments to Britain’s coronavirus crisis today:
- Britons descended on parks and beaches amid an expected 79F heatwave as they declared, ‘If Dominic Cummings can break the rules, we can too’;
- An NHS hospital in the Somerset seaside hotspot of Weston-super-Mare was forced to stop taking new patients due to a high number of coronavirus cases;
- Newsreader Simon McCoy slammed his BBC colleague Gary Lineker for abusing his position after the Match of the Day host accused the Prime Minister of lying;
- Schools face a long journey before they are able to return to normal, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said as he insisted classes must restart on June 1.
The Department of Health’s daily death toll means the rolling seven-day average of victims has dropped to just 303 – the lowest since March 31 (274) and less than a third of the peak on April 14 (943).
It takes the overall official number of victims to 36,914 – but the true number is thousands higher because it only takes into account laboratory-confirmed cases, not the suspected deaths in other settings.
Of the 121 new deaths, 76 occurred in hospitals – most of which were in England. The remainder of the newly recorded Covid-19 fatalities happened in other settings, such as care homes.
England recorded 104 deaths, followed by nine in Scotland, seven in Wales and one in Northern Ireland – tallies that do not match up with the individual counts recorded by each of the home nations.
For instance, Scotland’s own health chiefs today announced three new deaths but yesterday recorded seven. Northern Ireland had the same issue, recording eight new fatalities today but only one yesterday.
The issue is only thought to occur with Scotland and Northern Ireland because of a difference in how the data is collected. Wales announced seven new deaths today and yesterday.
NHS England figures also do not match the individual tally collated by the Department of Health for England (104) because the official toll includes deaths across all settings, not just in hospitals.
And the two use different measures for hospital deaths, with the DH relying on data from Public Health England, which uses several sources to provide an update every afternoon.
The figures published today by NHS England confirm that April 8 was still the peak of the crisis, with 891 hospital deaths recorded – up from the 59 that were announced today by NHS England.
Of the 59 new deaths recorded in England’s hospitals, 47 occurred over the weekend. Five took place on Friday, while the remaining seven victims succumbed to the disease between May 16 and 21.
It comes as Dominic Cummings will this afternoon make a public statement to directly address claims he broke lockdown rules by travelling to Durham, Downing Street confirmed.
Mr Cummings is expected to take questions about his conduct which has plunged the government into a state of crisis and has prompted calls for a formal investigation.
The intervention came after one of the government’s scientific advisers warned the ‘debacle’ over the lockdown journey had ‘fatally undermined’ the nation’s fight against coronavirus.
Professor Stephen Reicher, who is a member of the Government’s advisory group on behavioural science which feeds into SAGE, said the result of ‘undermining adherence to the rules’ will be that ‘more people are going to die’.
Mr Johnson is facing a furious backlash from ministers, Tory MPs and even bishops after he yesterday attempted to mount an extraordinary defence of Mr Cummings, staking his reputation on trying to protect his aide.
At a dramatic Downing Street press conference last night, the PM claimed Mr Cummings had acted ‘responsibly, legally and with integrity’ while making a controversial 260-mile trip from London to Durham during lockdown.
Mr Johnson insisted Mr Cummings had ‘followed the instincts of every father’ by driving to his parents’ farm after his wife developed symptoms of coronavirus. The PM’s defence of his aide prompted fury among Britons.
Sun-worshippers descended on parks and beaches today for the Bank Holiday amid an expected 79F heatwave, which could see parts of the country basked in temperatures hotter than Athens, Nice and Barcelona.
Crowds formed outside the Serpentine in London’s Hyde Park, as beaches in Sussex, Essex and Dorset quickly filled up with visitors looking to enjoy the dry and sunny conditions forecast to last the whole day.