PM Boris Johnson confirms further lockdown easing in England from 17 May, including: - 'Rule of Six' to apply indoors - Up to 30 can meet outdoors - Pubs and restaurants can open indoors - Cinemas, theatres, concert halls & sports stadiums can open
The journey along the government’s road toward normality is going right according to plan.
Overall prevalence of the virus has continued to fall because people have followed government restrictions – and because of the effectiveness of the vaccines and the speed of their roll out. As well as reducing infection and serious illness, the jabs have cut transmission. The latest easing of measure, however, is the riskiest to date because it allows people to mix indoors – where transmission is more likely.
But provided people continue to behave sensibly, the expectation among scientists is that infection levels will remain low – allowing the government to progress to the final of its road map and lift all restrictions on social contact on 17 June.The virus will still be circulating and capable of harming the unvaccinated and those whose immune systems don’t respond effectively to the jabs.
The government’s experts do believe that cases may rise again which may in turn lead to a new wave of infections in the autumn. But they believe that we are now past the worst of the pandemic in the UK.