Families and loved ones could be allowed to be reunited in the Government's roadmap out of lockdown plans.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to tell MPs on Monday how we can ease our way out of restrictions.
It was confirmed last night care home residents will finally be able to hold hands with a loved one indoors from March 8, but little detail has been revealed about the Government's full plans just yet.
Several newspapers reported that new rules allowing two households to meet outdoors - regardless of the total number of people - are set to be introduced from April, while six people from six different households would also be able to gather.
Number 10 dismissed as speculation reports that pubs could be permitted to serve customers outdoors from April, with the Daily Mail saying that people could be served indoors in May.
Schools look set to reopen to all pupils from March 8, with both primary and secondaries said to return in just over three weeks.
The move comes despite a coalition of education unions and professional bodies warning that a full return of all pupils would be a "reckless" course of action.
A relaxation of the rules around care home visits has been given a cautious welcome by the care sector, with calls for clarification on the details of the new arrangements.
Care home residents will be allowed to hold hands with a regular indoor visitor from March 8 under the Government's plan to ease lockdown restrictions in England.
Visitors will be required to take a coronavirus lateral flow test - which gives quick results - before entry and personal protective equipment (PPE) must be worn.
Residents will be asked not to hug or kiss their relatives, and guidance for care homes is expected to be published in the next fortnight.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was "pleased" that it would soon be possible for people to be "carefully and safely reunited with loved ones who live in care homes".
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Mr Johnson will set out the blueprint for relaxing measures in England on Monday - the final details of which will be agreed at a meeting of the "Covid O" committee on Sunday.
The Prime Minister will then chair a meeting of his Cabinet on Monday, before announcing the plans to the Commons later that afternoon.
He is expected to lead a Downing Street press conference that evening alongside England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.
The relaxation comes amid a backdrop of promising data suggesting coronavirus infections are dropping across the UK.
Around one in 115 people in private households in England had Covid-19 between February 6 and 12, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, down from around one in 80 people from January 31 to February 6.
North-west England had the highest proportion of people of any region in England likely to test positive for coronavirus, the ONS said.
Around one in 85 people in private households in the North West were estimated to have had Covid-19 in the week ending February 12.
