Boris Johnson has confirmed that the government is sticking to the roadmap out of lockdown, with shops, gyms, hairdressers and beer gardens to reopen as planned for stage two on 12 April.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, he said nothing in the Covid data suggested that the plans for the easing of restrictions would have to be changed but cautioned that normality was still “some way off”.
The government also admitted that it might have to extend the foreign travel ban past 17 May because of the situation in other countries, and said that it was still considering the introduction of Covid status certificates.
It comes amid mounting opposition from MPs to the idea of vaccine passports. Downing Street has confirmed that a risk-based “traffic light” system will be put in place with red, amber and green ratings for different countries.
The government announced earlier today that everyone in England will be offered free rapid coronavirus tests twice a week from Friday, as part of a plan to help stop fresh outbreaks of the virus and enable authorities to identify and control new variants.
Read more:
- Lockdown roadmap: What you can do from 12 April after latest easing of restrictions
- Government rules out Covid vaccine passports for essential shops, public services, and trains
- Lockdown update: Boris Johnson gives green light for shops and pubs to open from Monday
- Four steps of lockdown: What can I do and when?
