Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning a staged exit from the lockdown that would put the UK’s ailing economy back on track for the next five months after getting ahead of most of the world in vaccinating its population.
The new coronavirus, which emerged in China in late 2019, has killed 2.4 million people around the world, changed normal life by billions, and led the UK to its worst decline in 300 years.
After moving faster than all other Western peers banning Israel from vaccinating its population, the UK’s $ 3 trillion economy aims to be among the first major Western economies to return to something close to normal, albeit still far behind the ovens of global growth in China. .
Johnson, who will set the path out of lockdown on February 22, said the phased exit plan would be cautious but irreversible, though schools are likely to return on March 8 along with a massive testing program to monitor the outbreak. .
The Daily Mail newspaper reported that while office workers will be told to continue working from home for some time, parts of the economy such as vacation rentals and larger hotels will reopen in April.
Outdoor leisure, such as theme parks and zoos, as well as golf, outdoor gyms and tennis, could also resume in April, though pubs, bars and restaurants would have to wait until May and a full pub reopening early. of June.
“Entertainment businesses may not return to ‘general normalcy’ until July under a roadmap out of lockdown,” the Mail reported, though it said Johnson had not yet made a final decision.
“Office staff are expected to be told to continue working from home when the prime minister releases his roadmap,” the Mail said. “The ‘work from home if you can’ message will continue for the foreseeable future.” .
Vaccine wins
After suffering the fifth worst official death toll from COVID-19 in the world and a series of setbacks in its response to the pandemic, the Johnson government acted much faster than most of the West to secure the supply of vaccines and give it a head start.
Currently, the UK has given 15.58 million people, or about 23% of its population of 67 million, a first dose of vaccine, behind only Israel and the United Arab Emirates in vaccines per capita.
Johnson, who warned people to take newspaper reports of his plans with caution as a final decision has yet to be made, says he wants to see more data on how the launch of the vaccine is affecting serious diseases and death.
So far, there is some data from Israel on this, but not enough from the UK to be absolutely certain of the impact, Chris Whitty, the government’s top medical adviser, said on Monday.
The loosening of the strictest peacetime restrictions on personal liberties in modern English history will be accompanied by a massive testing program.
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She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.