Boris Johnson unveils UK reopening plan. The initial tentative steps to ease some coronavirus lockdown measures aim to slowly reopen the public life and the economy.
The plan encourages citizens who cannot work from home to return to work from Monday. However, they must avoid using public transportation. People can take unlimited amounts of exercise starting Wednesday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that young children could return to school by June 1 at the earliest. Meanwhile, older children could have some time back with their teachers before the summer break.
In a televised addressed Sunday evening, Johnson noted that “some hospitality places” could resume their operations in July. He added that it will “soon be time” to place people traveling to the country by air under quarantine.
The government will outline more details about easing the restrictions on Monday.
However, the prime minister stressed that the UK reopening plan is conditional. Communities should meet key tests, such as low rate of infection.
A survey suggested that Britain’s economy may worsen as businesses reported a dramatic decline in demand during a nationwide lockdown.
The IHS Markit/CIPS Flash UK Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dropped to a new record low of 12.9 from 36.0 in March. It is not close to the lowest forecast in a Reuters poll of economists that had generated a reading of 31.4.
“The dire survey readings will inevitably raise questions about the cost of the lockdown, and how long current containment measures will last,” Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, said.
Five stages
Johnson mentioned five different stages under a new threat level warning system for the virus. England is reportedly shifting to stage 3 from being at stage 4.
“This is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week,” Johnson said. “Instead we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures.”
His Tweet on Sunday confirmed that the government guidance turned from “stay at home” into “stay alert.” The new guidelines urge people to stay at home as much as possible, work from home if possible, limit contact with other people, and maintain a two-meter distance from one another.
However, the UK’s decentralized nations did not agree to the new slogan. They decided instead to observe the “stay at home” message.
Data on Tuesday confirmed that the UK recorded the highest official death toll as a result of the coronavirus outbreak in Europe. The country surpassed Italy as the worst-hit country in the region.
UK is currently second only to the US for COVID-19-related deaths worldwide. The death toll hit 31,855 with a rise of 269 in the past 24 hours as of last Sunday.
Meanwhile, experts expressed caution about international comparisons. According to them, there are differences in demographics and each country has its own method of evaluating the number of deaths.
The UK only began taking into account deaths in the community, such as nursing homes, to its official statistics. Previous records only showed those who died in hospital.
Criticism against Johnson's governance
Opposition parties criticized how the UK government handles the coronavirus pandemic. Some lawmakers find Johnson too slow in terms of responding to the pandemic when the news broke. The government started implementing measures on March 23.
Johnson, who also suffered from coronavirus and spent days in an intensive care unit, was initially hesitant to put the nation under lockdown. This was the time when hospitals in Italy were already taking in coronavirus patients. Critics also believe that the government failed to provide enough protective equipment to hospitals and being late to conduct mass testing.
