The changes will take effect from the 4th of July will please business chiefs, and restaurant and pub-goers, as well as those needing haircuts
Cinemas, museums and galleries across England are to be allowed permitted to re-open, starting from the 4th of July, in the latest move by the UK government to restore normal life after the three-month coronavirus lockdown.
But, as Boris Johnson’s Conservative government moves to rescue the arts and culture sector, they are likely to be ordered to introduce social distancing restriction, such as one-way systems, spaced queuing, increased ventilation and making pre-booked tickets a requirement.
Nevertheless, the Prime Minister is set to scrap the nation’s current two-metre social distancing rules, as he allows England’s pubs, restaurants and hairdressers to open their doors for the first time since the lockdown began.
This comes after the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the United Kingdom has risen by 15 fatalities to 42,647, which is the lowest daily increase of deaths since mid-March.
In a shake-up demanded by Conservative MPs that will take effect from the 4th of July and will please business chiefs, and restaurant and pub-goers, as well as those needing haircuts.
The easing of lockdown measures for the arts and culture industries will also be warmly welcomed by the hospitality and entertainment sector, which have feared further catastrophic financial losses and closures as a result of the pandemic.
The Prime Minister is also thought to be announcing an expansion of “social bubbles” in which people will be permitted to mix freely, in changes aimed at helping more children see their grandparents.
But Boris Johnson will stress that the British public needs to continue following the new social distancing guidelines to keep the COVID-19 pandemic under control and any easing of restrictions could be reversed if further risks from the coronavirus run out of control.
A Number 10 source has said on the matter:
“We are only able to move forward this week because the vast majority of people have taken steps to control the virus,”.
“But the more we open up, the more important it is that everyone follows the social distancing guidelines. We will not hesitate to reverse these steps if it is necessary to stop the virus running out of control.”
Leading up to the cabinet meeting to approve these changes to the current social distancing rules, the scrapping of the two-metre rule was signed off at a meeting of senior ministers within the government’s COVID-19 strategy committee.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said: “We want to look at how we can get the hospitality, tourism and leisure industries back up and running in a safe way for people.
“That’s what we’re looking at this morning. There’ll be some announcements from the prime minister later today.”
On the future of the two-metre rule, Mr Lewis said “we’ve got to get the balance right” between “making sure that if we’re going to re-open businesses they can do so in a way that they can actually function, but also at the forefront of our minds is people’s health and safety”.
This comes as the UK is abandoning its existing NHS contact-tracing app in order to switch to new technology being provided by both Google and Apple.
