Since the Prime Minister’s remarks on May 10th, there’s been some confusion over what the loosening of lock down rules means. Here, we try to summarise all the changes, along with what is remaining the same.
Don’t go out unless it’s for work, exercise, food shopping, or an emergency like going to the doctor.
If you can work from home, continue to do so, however if your job requires your physical presence (such as construction, caregiving, cleaning), you may return to work at this time.
If you are travelling, please only use public transportation if absolutely necessary, and try to walk, cycle, or drive if possible. If you do take public transport, you are asked to wear facial coverings, and to respect social distancing guidelines while travelling.
Any visitor from outside the UK will now have to self-quarantine for two weeks upon arrival, unless travelling from The Republic of Ireland or France.
Golf, tennis, and angling sports are now allowed to resume. There is no limit to exercise time now.
You can meet with friends or family from different households provided there are only two of you, you meet outside, and you maintain social distancing.
Failure to comply with rules will now result in higher fines.
Schools may be able to open for reception, Year One, and Year Six students as of the beginning of June.
Pubs, cafes, and hairdressers may be allowed to open from July 4th at the earliest, assuming the “five tests” to ease restrictions have been met.
What are the Five Tests to Ease Restrictions?
1. Make Sure the NHS can cope
This means ensuring that capacity in hospitals, from beds to doctors, is not strained by demand.
2. A sustained and consistent fall in the daily death rate.
Though we’re still seeing hundreds of deaths a day in the UK, if the raste continues to fall as it has been recently, then restrictions will be able to responsibly ease.
3. The rate of the disease is decreasing to manageable levels.
This refers to the amount of people an infected person is passing the virus on to, also known as the R. The government would like this number to on average be less than one person before easing restrictions further.
4. We have an adequate amount of PPE and testing
Not only do we need enough for right now, but for any future outbreaks as well. At the moment, there is capacity for 100,000 tests a day.
5. Being confident any changes would not risk a second spike in Covid cases.
The Government has been testing a tracing app on the Isle of White, with the hope that this technology can help lock down and confine any spread of the virus. However, it’s very difficult to tell right now what effects social gathering will have without widespread protections and precautions.
For more information on the tests, a summary and further details can be found here,
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