Coronavirus: England’s pubs, restaurants and hotels to reopen as social distancing rules eased

Millions of people in Britain will be able to go to the pub, visit a cinema, get a haircut or attend a religious service starting July 4

The rules only cover England as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are responsible for their own policies in relation to public health matters

2-MIN READ2-MIN

A closed pub seen in London on June 23. Photo: EPA

Published: 10:23pm, 23 Jun 2020Updated: 12:47am, 24 Jun 2020

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday pubs, restaurants and hotels could reopen in England early next month, easing the coronavirus lockdown that has all but shut the economy.

In other signs of a gradual return to normal life, hairdressers will also open again, along with tourist attractions like theme parks, but nightclubs, indoor gyms and swimming pools will have to stay closed.

Johnson has been under pressure from businesses, especially in the hospitality sector, and from members of his governing Conservative Party to relax the lockdown, but until now he had resisted for fear of prompting a second wave.

On Tuesday, he said with infection rates falling and little current threat of a second wave of Covid-19 cases, he could reopen swathes of the economy and try to get life in England back to something like normal. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are responsible for their own policies in relation to public health matters.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said England’s hairdressers could reopen early next month. Photo: AFP

By relaxing the rule on social distancing from two metres to one metre-plus, with the ‘plus’ meaning measures like wearing masks and using protective screens, Johnson said many businesses could reopen from July 4.

“Today we can say that our long, national hibernation is beginning to come to an end,” he told parliament.