There could be light at the end of the tunnel as ministers discuss plans to allow for shops to re-open, families to be re-united and self-catering staycations to be given the go ahead if Covid-19 infection rates continue to plummet amid the vaccine rollout.
Plans to ease lockdown were boosted yesterday by figures showing the dramatic impact vaccines are already having as Boris Johnson last night confirmed the country had hit its target of 15 million vaccinations – a day ahead of schedule.
The Prime Minister said the number of new cases has already dropped ‘very considerably’ preparing the way for lockdown measures to be relaxed.
It is thought that this could mean the re-opening of High Street shops within weeks as well as the easing of restrictions on outdoor exercise and socialising.
Ministers are also said to be considering plans to allow for families of a single household to travel across the UK for an Easter holiday in self-catered accommodation.
It has led to growing hope that families will be able to meet outside by Easter as early as next month to allow children to reunite with their grandparents.
It comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock set out yet another ambitious goal as he aims to roll out 32 million jabs to all those at risk in just 10 weeks.
Plans to ease lockdown were boosted yesterday by figures showing the dramatic impact vaccines are already having (packed high street pictured during December last year before the latest lockdown was imposed)
Boris Johnson had previously urged people to wait until the government had issued a ‘road map’ out of lockdown (Empty high street pictured in March last year)
Boris Johnson said last week that it was too early to book holidays as he urged people to wait until the government had issued a ‘road map’ out of lockdown.
But there is now renewed optimism sparked by the UK achieving its landmark target of vaccinating 15 million a day early – hailed by the Prime Minister as an ‘extraordinary feat’.
He said jabs have been offered to everyone considered to be in the top four priority groups in England – the over 70s, care home residents and staff, healthcare workers and those who have been shielding.
It is thought that due to the vaccine rollout success ministers are currently looking at plans that would allow families that live in the same household to go away for self-catered staycations as soon as the Easter holidays.
This has raised fears that letting people travel long distances to their destinations could lead to ‘big movements’ across the UK – potentially leading to a spike in coronavirus cases once again.
The Prime Minister said the number of new cases has already dropped ‘very considerably’ preparing the way for lockdown measures to be relaxed
But the Prime Minister said: ‘Thanks to the efforts of the British people, the lockdown, plus possibly the effect of the vaccine, we’re going to see the rates coming down more sharply.
‘They’re falling at the moment, we want to be in a position where we can begin to open up.’
In the interview with US television network CBS, Mr Johnson continued: ‘What people want to see is clarity about the way forward, and taking steps to unlock, which you don’t then have to reverse.’
The latest developments could also see the easing of restrictions on outdoor exercise and socialising as early as next month with the return of one-to-one outdoor sports such as golf and tennis.
It is thought that this will be followed by the re-opening of non-essential retailers with pubs and restaurants being allowed to serve people outdoors later in April.
Indoor hospitality would not return until May with the possibility of delay until August.
The pace at which restrictions are eased will depend on the ongoing scientific advice but ministers are also considering plans to allow grandparents to reunite with their grandchildren outdoors next month (stock image)
The pace at which restrictions are eased will depend on the ongoing scientific advice but ministers are also considering plans to allow grandparents to reunite with their grandchildren outdoors from next month.
Schools are set to be the first to return with people also allowed to meet friends and family outdoors on a one-to-one basis.
A government source told The Telegraph that there could be an exemption to the one-to-one outdoor meeting rule for children: ‘If grandparents had had the vaccine, that would be likely to be okay.
‘Given that people will have immunity, that would be a fair assumption, but nothing has been decided.’
It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock set out yet another ambitious goal as he aims to roll out 32 million jabs to all those at risk by April.
The Prime Minister will publish a detailed roadmap setting out his plan for lifting the national lockdown in England next Monday, starting on March 8 with the return of schools and allowing people to meet one friend for coffee on a park bench.
The blueprint will avoid setting hard-and-fast dates for subsequent stages, but will lay out the sequence in which restrictions will be lifted.
In other developments:
- The UK recorded 10,972 new Covid-19 cases and another 258 deaths, down 30 per cent from the previous week’s total of 373 and the lowest number since Boxing Day;
- A travel industry campaign group, called Save Our Summer, has demanded international travel is allowed to resume from May 1;
- Pub bosses dismissed proposals to allow customers in beer gardens only as ‘laughable’ and called on ministers to let them fully reopen their doors in April;
- There were fears of chaotic scenes at airports as Britain’s new hotel quarantine scheme for travellers came into force today;
- MPs demanded ministers publish an assessment of the economic impact of different routes out of lockdown;
- Downing Street slapped down Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab after he suggested people could have to show vaccine passports before being allowed into shops and restaurants.
No 10 officials are working on three different plans for unlocking based on the health data – optimistic, moderate, and gloomy. The speed restrictions are lifted will depend on infection rates, hospital admissions and deaths.
Ministers are waiting to receive figures this week showing the effect the vaccine is having on transmission. A leading epidemiologist yesterday said early indications show a single vaccine dose offers protection from the virus after three weeks for 67 per cent of those inoculated.
Professor Tim Spector, of King’s College London, who runs the Zoe Covid-19 surveillance app, said if the results from 50,000 people are replicated amongst the wider population we will ‘have really knocked this virus on the head’.
Yesterday Mr Raab rejected what he described as an ‘arbitrary’ demand from some Tory backbenchers for a lifting of all restrictions in England by the end of April.
More than 60 MPs in the Covid Recovery Group backed a letter to the PM that said schools ‘must’ return on March 8 as planned with pubs and restaurants opening in a ‘commercially viable manner’ from Easter.
Mr Raab, however, said while ministers wanted to lift controls as quickly as possible, it was essential to ensure the disease was under control first.
Tom Ironside, of the British Retail Consortium, said last night: ‘As soon as the Government announce retail can reopen, shops will be ready to do so safely.’