Prime Minister Boris Johnson reveals roadmap for easing lockdown in England
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THE Prime Minister Boris Johnson has outlined the road map out of lockdown for England.
Addressing the nation, he said that all people who cannot work from home, should return to work while maintaining social distancing and avoiding the use of public transport.
From Wednesday there will be unlimited outdoor exercise south of the border, with people allowed to visit parks and take part in sports, but only with people from their own household.
He outlined a partial reopening of schools from June 1 and some hospitality sectors reopening from July 1.
However, the Prime Minister insisted the easing of lockdown restrictions is conditional on people staying alert to the virus and maintaining social distancing, otherwise he will not hesitate to "put the brakes on".
"It would be madness to throw away that achievement by allowing a second spike."
However, all of the measures outlined by Mr Johnson apply ONLY to England and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the message remains to Stay at Home unless going out for exercise, essential food shopping and medical supplies.
The new 'Stay Alert' messaged delivered by Mr Johnson does not apply north of the border.
Mr Johnson told the nation: "It is now almost two months since the people of this country began to put up with restrictions on their freedom of a kind we have never seen before in peace or war and you have shown the good sense to support those rules overwhelmingly and have put up with all the hardships of that programme of social distancing."
He said this remained the only way to defeat the threat posed by Coronavirus, the most vicious threat this country has faced in his lifetime.
And although he said the death toll has been tragic and the suffering immense - and every life lost has been mourned - he said the social distancing had prevented a catastrophe of even great proportions which could have cost up to 500,000 lives in a worst case scenario.
He said the response to the virus had come at a "colossal cost to our way of life".
Mr Johnson said his plan addressed how to beat the virus and "road map for reopening society and a sense of the way ahead".
"As Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, there is a strong resolve to beat this together."
He said the plan is conditional and it cannot move forward unless the NHS is protected, there are sustained falls in the death rate, the rate of infection decreases, testing and PPE meets demands and any measures do not lead to an increase in cases of the virus.
A new Covid alert system has been established which will be determined by the rate of infection and number of cases.
Level 1 will mean the disease is no longer present in the UK and level 5 is the most critical. Over the period of the lockdown, said Mr Johnson, the UK had been at level 4.
He said the country had to tackle the spread of the virus in care homes, and testing and contact tracing.
Mr Johnson said the new system of testing would be able to pick up hot spots in local areas, as well as providing a national picture.
"This is not the time simply to end the lockdown, instead we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures."
By June 1 at the earliest the phased reopening of shops and getting primary pupils back to schools will begin.
By July 1 at the earliest, if the numbers support it, the Government hopes to reopen some of the hospitality industry and other public places.
The devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have the power to change lockdown as they see fit.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon earlier today announced that people can, from Monday, exercise outside more than once a day, either alone or with other members of their household.
