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UK hopes to fully reopen by June 21st…at the earliest, but maybe it won’t, but it could, and if it does, this is how it will happen in 5 stages
Boris Johnson has announced a “hopeful” timeline of the UK’s plan to fully reopening and eliminating lockdown restrictions all together. The first stage begins in roughly two weeks and, if all things go to plan, end in mid June. If they don’t go to plan? Well…it’ll be sometime after June 21st. This is why it’s so important to realize that the dates listed below are “at the earliest” and are data dependent, but with vaccine rollouts under way and cases dropping precipitously…things are starting to look hopeful for the heavily locked down UK. Johnson mentioned that have Covid passports could become a thing, although not enforced by law at this time, it could be advantageous for indoor businesses to reopen if people showed they were vaccinated. Remember, the dates you see listed below are the earliest things could change. Also remember that the UK was shutting down for two weeks in November…
Now…before you get too excited ( I’m excited since my fiancee is British and maybe I could actually see her again ) there are some conditions that must be met prior to moving to the next step. Each of the listed criteria doesn’t really have any specific data points attached to it…like what is an effective vaccine distribution rate? How much reduction in hospitalization clears the threshold? Does the country roll back a stage if these numbers aren’t met?
- Vaccine continues to be distributed effectively.
- Vaccines continue to show efficacy towards reducing hospitalizations
- Infection rates ( R number) doesn’t threaten to overwhelm the NHS .
- New variants don’t derail plans.
The 5 Steps of unlocking the country
Step 1: March 8th, 2021
- Schools reopen and outdoor sports are allowed again but must be after school sports
- Two people would be allowed to sit next to one another as long as they are outside
- Nursing home/care residents are allowed a visitor ( although they must be designated a “regular” visitor)
Step 2: March 29th, 2021
- Two households ( or 6 people ) can meet outside
- Outside sports facilities and organized sports are allowed once again
- You can travel outside of your zone, or local area
Step 3: April 12, 2021
- Non essential retail stores can reopen
- This includes hairdressers, etc
- Reopening of outdoor hospitality
- Indoor gyms, swimming pools, exercise facilities can reopen
- “self contained” holiday accommodations are allowed to reopen
- I would assume this means Airbnb, etc
- Funerals for 30 people and weddings up to 15 guests
Step 4: May 17th, 2021
- No social contact rules while outside – social distancing etc is lifted
- Two households are allowed to begin meeting inside, up to 6 people
- Indoor dining and hospitality will reopen and hotels can reopen
- movie theaters, museums, performances, etc
- Weddings can now have 30 people
Step 5: June 21, 2021 – the country is fully open
- No limits on social contact…I.e. social distancing inside, outside
- Nightclubs are open, bars are open, etc
- Anything that is still close that the country forgot to reopen can now open as well. Let’s be honest, there’s probably someone, somewhere that was forgotten about. You can open up laddy
I’m going to stay cautiously optimistic
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What an awful place to live under rules like that.
I guess they still have a King and Queen and are still subjects.
That sounds like misery on a level that I didn’t think misery still existed.
The totalitarians have staved off the angry masses then with a load of rubbish and remain in denial that this virus cannot be stopped and that it is already endemic to the planet. Everyone will, vaccine or not, be exposed to this virus. Vaccinated people can still 1) test positive (and they will) and 2) spread the virus to others (and they most certainly will). Most people either show no symptoms or just mild symptoms and don’t seek a doctor’s care. Most don’t even realize they have the virus – the positive result is a surprise. Will they report hospitalizations or positive results? The former will go down and while the latter may, it will never go to zero as long as widespread testing is mandated.
Finally, viruses mutate. It’s what they do. Mutations will be detected and reported, and the fear that will entail will lead to further shutdowns before the facts about the mutation are even known. The reopening schedule will be reset, pushed back, modified, and flip-flopped.
Oh, masks are forever too. You will never be allowed outside again in your life without one once a government mandates masks in all public areas, anywhere, all the time. Where is road back on that score? There is none. The only answer is a move to a freer society, which will enter the conversation in a year or two.
Mark my words.
Leads to more questions for me. If a nursing home resident can have one visitor, that visitor should be vaccinated assuming all the residents and staff are already vaccinated. And by March 8th, the general population won’t be vaccinated. So I’d hope there’s more detail to their plans. I’m willing to stay in until I’m vaccinated and my boyfriend is vaccinated so we can even see each other let alone consider going out to a restaurant. Others won’t put that same restriction on themselves which I understand. It’s a lot to unpack! Thank you for sharing the plan.