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Covid news - live: Boris Johnson reveals end of lockdown roadmap as Whitty backs five-week gap between stages

Follow live reaction to Boris Johnson’s ‘cautious’ plan to easing coronavirus restrictions

Kate Ng,Peter Stubley,Chantal da Silva
Monday 22 February 2021 17:11 EST
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Scientific advisers throw support behind school reopening

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Boris Johnson received the backing of his chief medical and scientific advisers Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance as he unveiled his “cautious but also irreversible” plan for lifting lockdown restrictions in England.

The prime minister said life could be back to normal by as early as 21 June as he defended his plan as a “one way road to freedom” and insisted he would not be “buccaneering” with people’s lives.

“The crocus of hope is poking through the frost and spring is on its way both literally and metaphorically,” he said during a live public briefing at Downing Street.

Under the road map, all schools in England will be expected to reopen on 8 March, while up to six people or two households will be allowed to meet outdoors from 29 March.

Other restrictions will be eased at five week intervals from 12 April, which chief medical officer Chris Whitty said would give time to assess whether infections were still under control.

The details were outlined as new research found that Covid-19 vaccines distributed across the UK substantially reduced the risk of hospital admissions.

Both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs were found to cut hospitalisations with the disease by up to 85 per cent and 94 per respectively. The research, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, is the first of its kind confirming the impact of the UK’s vaccine rollout.

    Boris Johnson says there is ‘no credible route to zero Covid Britain'

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said there is “no credible route to zero Covid Britain” in his unveiling of plans to bring England out of its lockdown.

    The PM said England will need to take a “cautious” approach out of its lockdown, as he revealed his plan to lift restrictions in stages.

    Watch the PM’s comments here:

    Boris Johnson: 'No credible route to zero Covid Britain'
    Chantal Da Silva22 February 2021 15:58

    Life virtually back to normal by 21 June at earliest, Boris Johnson

    England could return to something close to normal life no earlier than 21 June, under the terms of a roadmap out of lockdown unveiled by Boris Johnson today.

    Describing his plan as a “a one-way road to freedom”, Mr Johnson cautioned that measures could be paused at any time if the data makes clear that relaxations have increased the danger from Covid-19.

    Political editor Andrew Woodcock has more:

    Life virtually back to normal by 21 June at earliest, Boris Johnson announces

    ‘Cautious but irreversible’ lifting of lockdown dependent on good progress on vaccinations and infections

    Chantal Da Silva22 February 2021 15:53

    Boris Johnson says ‘odds are in our favour’ thanks to vaccination programme

    Boris Johnson says the ‘odds are in our favour’ thanks to the UK’s vaccination programme.

    Addressing concerns his road map out of the lockdown was too ambitious, he said: “We must always be humble in the face of nature”.

    However, he said he was convinced “the odds are in our favour” thanks to the UK’s vaccination programme.

    Chantal Da Silva22 February 2021 15:52

    Boris Johnson cracks hair joke as he announces plan to reopen businesses

    MPs laughed as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that he was “glad to say” that hairdressers would be among those to eventually reopen under his road map to exiting England’s coronavirus lockdown.

    The PM said hairdressers were unlikely to be reopened until at least late April on the “journey back to normality”.

    Chantal Da Silva22 February 2021 15:48

    Rule of six will return to outdoor meetings under road map, Johnson confirms

    Boris Johnson has confirmed that the ‘rule of six’ allowing up to six people or two households to meet outdoors will return in March.

    That rule is expected to come into place starting from 29 March.

    Chantal Da Silva22 February 2021 15:46

    Rule of six will return to outdoor meetings under road map, Johnson confirms

    Boris Johnson has confirmed that the ‘rule of six’ allowing up to six people or two households to meet outdoors will return in March.

    That rule is expected to come into place starting from 29 March.

    Chantal Da Silva22 February 2021 15:45

    Pupils can ‘safely return’ to face-to-face teaching under plan, Johnson says

      Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed plans for students to return to schools starting 8 March.
      The PM said pupils could “safely return” to face-to-face teaching under his new plan to left coronavirus restrictions.
      He also confirmed that outdoor recreation, or meetings, will be allowed between two people in a public space or park, along with a number of other changes.
    Chantal Da Silva22 February 2021 15:44

    Boris Johnson unveiling road map out of lockdown to MPs

    Boris Johnson has begun unveiling his road map for lifting lockdown restrictions in England to MPs, presenting his “cautious” approach to reuniting families and seeing children return to school in the House of Commons on Monday.

    Chantal Da Silva22 February 2021 15:41

    Prince William says he would be at ‘front of the queue’ for Covid jab to prove it is okay

    The Duke of Cambridge has said he would gladly be at the “front of the queue” for a coronavirus jab to prove that it is okay. However, he said, he will “wait my turn”.

    Prince William made the comments during his first official in-person event of the year, paying a visit to his local coronavirus vaccination centre at the King’s Lynn Corn Exchange, a few miles from his Norfolk home.

    The duke, who had coronavirus last year spoke with staff and volunteers at the site.

    His visit came as the Duke of Edinburgh remains at the King Edward VII’s Hospital in London after feeling unwell.

    Asked about Prince Philip, Prince William winked and said the Duke of Edinburgh was “okay”, adding hospital workers were “keeping an eye on him”, PA reported.

    Chantal Da Silva22 February 2021 15:13

    Sending all pupils back to school at once could send Covid cases ‘through the roof’, Sturgeon says

    As Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepares to announce a road map set to see students return to schools next month, Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned that allowing all schoolchildren back at the same time could send coronavirus transmission “through the roof”.

    Scotland started to allow some children back into schools starting today. However, only nursery children and pupils in the first three years of primary returned, along with a number of senior high school students.

    Asked why the Scottish Government had not taken the same approach as Mr Johnson’s government, Ms Sturgeon said: “If we were to do that right now we would send transmission through the roof again very quickly.”

    The First Minister, said the “fear” was that a full return to schools would increase interactions across the population generally.

    Questioned on her own approach, the First Minister said: “Is it ideal? No. Because I want every child back to school right now.

    “But I think that is the most sensible and sustainable way of doing this, in a way that is going to stick.”

    Chantal Da Silva22 February 2021 15:07

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