Britain to ease coronavirus lockdown next week, will test vaccine passports
- PM Boris Johnson says, however, that it is too soon to decide if British residents will be able to have summer trips abroad
- Once travel resumes, Britain will rank countries green, yellow or red on a traffic-light system based on level of vaccinations, infections and virus variants
Britain’s slow but steady march out of a 3½-month lockdown remains on track even as coronavirus cases surge elsewhere in Europe, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday, as he confirmed that businesses from barbers to bookstores will be allowed to reopen next week.
Johnson said it was too soon to decide, however, whether British residents would be able to have summer trips abroad.
He confirmed that the government will test out a contentious “vaccine passport” system – a way for people to offer proof they have protection from Covid-19 – as a tool to help travel and large events return safely.
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Four weeks after England took its first step out of lockdown by reopening schools, Johnson said Britain’s vaccination programme was proceeding well and infections were falling.
He said the next step would come as planned on April 12, with the reopening of hairdressers, beauty salons, gyms, non-essential shops and bar and restaurant patios.
A ban on overnight domestic stays away from home will also be lifted that day, and outdoor venues such as zoos and drive-in cinemas can operate again.
The measures apply in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are following similar but slightly different paths.