The British government on Monday published its plan for exiting the coronavirus lockdown.
The 51-page document, entitled “Our Plan to Rebuild: The UK Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy”, gives an outline of how the United Kingdom could come out of lockdown.
Following are the main points:
HOW FAST?
“This is not a short-term crisis. It is likely that COVID-19 will circulate in the human population long-term, possibly causing periodic epidemics. In the near future, large epidemic waves cannot be excluded without continuing some measures.”
“In the near term, we cannot afford to make drastic changes,” the government said.
THE VULNERABLE
– Those in the clinically extremely vulnerable cohort will continue to be advised to shield themselves for some time yet
BACK TO WORK?
– For the foreseeable future, workers should continue to work from home rather than their normal physical workplace, wherever possible
– All workers who cannot work from home should travel to work if their workplace is open.
SCHOOLS
– Schools should prepare to begin to open for more children from 1 June. The government’s ambition is for all primary school children to return to school before the summer for a month if feasible.
TRANSPORT
– Everybody (including critical workers) should continue to avoid public transport wherever possible. Walk or cycle wherever possible. Try and avoid peak times on public transport.
– Social distancing guidance on public transport must be followed rigorously. As with workplaces, transport operators should follow appropriate guidance to make their services COVID-19 Secure; this will be published this week.
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
– the government will require all international arrivals not on a short list of exemptions to self-isolate in their accommodation for fourteen days on arrival into the UK. All journeys within the Common Travel Area will also be exempt from these measures.
– These international travel measures will not come into force on 13 May but will be introduced as soon as possible. Further details, and guidance, will be set out shortly, and the measures and list of exemptions will be kept under regular review.
BUBBLES
– UK is looking at how to allow people to expand their household group to include one other household. This could be based on the New Zealand model of household “bubbles”.
NON-ESSENTIAL RETAIL
– Non-essential retail will reopen in phases from June 1.
– After July 4, some remaining businesses could open. Examples include personal care (such as hairdressers and beauty salons) hospitality (such as food service providers, pubs and accommodation), public places (such as places of worship) and leisure facilities (like cinemas).
– The government will carefully phase and pilot re-openings to test their ability to adopt the new COVID-19 Secure guidelines.
MASKS
– The government is now advising that people should aim to wear a face-covering in enclosed spaces where social distancing is not always possible
GOING OUTSIDE
– People can now also spend time outdoors. People may exercise outside as many times each day as they wish. People may drive to outdoor open spaces irrespective of distance.
COMPLIANCE
– The Government is examining more stringent enforcement measures for non-compliance, as it has seen in many other countries.
COST
– These measures are extraordinarily costly and cannot be sustained for a prolonged period of time. As the UK adjusts the current restrictions, the Government will also need to wind down the economic support measures while people are eased back to work.
(Reuters)
