The UK’s four chief medical officers have agreed the Covid-19 alert level should move from level 4 to level 3, thanks to the success of the vaccination programme and social distancing restrictions.
This means the epidemic is in general circulation but transmission of the virus is no longer deemed to be high or rising exponentially.
Boris Johnson will hold a press conference in Downing Street later on Monday to announce the next steps in England’s roadmap out of lockdown.
A statement from the chief medical officers for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as the NHS England national medical director, Prof Stephen Powis, said: “Following advice from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and in the light of the most recent data, the UK chief medical officers and NHS England national medical director agree that the UK alert level should move from level 4 to level 3.
(March 8, 2021) Step 1, part 1
In effect from 8 March, all pupils and college students returned fully. Care home residents could receive one regular, named visitor.
(March 29, 2021) Step 1, part 2
In effect from 29 March, outdoor gatherings allowed of up to six people, or two households if this is larger, not just in parks but also gardens. Outdoor sport for children and adults allowed. The official stay at home order ended, but people encouraged to stay local. People still asked to work from home where possible, with no overseas travel allowed beyond the current small number of exceptions.
(April 12, 2021) Step 2
In effect from 12 April, non-essential retail, hair and nail salons, and some public buildings such as libraries and commercial art galleries reopened. Most outdoor venues can reopen, including pubs and restaurants, but only for outdoor tables and beer gardens. Customers will have to be seated but there will be no need to have a meal with alcohol.
Also reopen are settings such as zoos and theme parks. However, social contact rules still apply here, so no indoor mixing between households and limits on outdoor mixing. Indoor leisure facilities such as gyms and pools can also open, but again people can only go alone or with their own household. Reopening of holiday lets with no shared facilities is also allowed, but only for one household. Funerals can have up to 30 attendees, while weddings, receptions and wakes can have 15.
(May 17, 2021) Step 3
From 17 May people will be able to meet indoors in groups of up to six or as two households, or outdoors in groups of up to 30 people. People can also choose whether to socially distance with close family and friends, meaning that they can sit close together and hug. In care homes, residents will be able to have up to five named visitors and be entitled to make low risk visits out of the home.
People can meet in private homes, or in pubs, bars and restaurants, which will all be able to reopen indoors. Weddings, receptions and other life events can take place with up to 30 people. The cap on numbers attending funerals will depend on the size of the venue.
Most forms of indoor entertainment where social distancing is possible will also be able to resume, including cinemas, museums and children’s play areas. Theatres, concert halls, conference centres and sports stadia will have capacity limits in place.
Organised adult sport and exercise classes can resume indoors and saunas and steam rooms will reopen.
Hotels, hostels and B&Bs in the UK will allow overnight stays in groups of up to six people or two households.
People will also be able to travel to a small number of countries on the green list and will not have to quarantine on return.
Pupils will no longer be expected to wear face coverings in classrooms or in communal areas in secondary schools and colleges as a result of decreasing infection rates. Twice weekly home testing will remain in place. School trips with overnight stays will also now be possible.
(June 21, 2021) Step 4
No earlier than 21 June, all legal limits will be removed on mixing, and the last sectors to remain closed, such as nightclubs, will reopen. Large events can take place.
Peter Walker Political correspondent and Rachel Hall
“Thanks to the efforts of the UK public in social distancing and the impact we are starting to see from the vaccination programme, case numbers, deaths and Covid hospital pressures have fallen consistently.
“However Covid is still circulating with people catching and spreading the virus every day so we all need to continue to be vigilant. This remains a major pandemic globally.
“It is very important that we all continue to follow the guidance closely and everyone gets both doses of the vaccine when they are offered it.”
Johnson is expected to confirm that England can press ahead with the next phase out of lockdown from 17 May, which allows more freedoms in and outdoors.
Azra Ghani, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London, said “The reduction from alert level 4 to level 3 is appropriate because transmission of the virus is now being maintained at a low level – due to the combined effect of a high uptake in vaccination and the restrictions that have been in place. It will however be important to monitor carefully as the next stage of unlocking occurs to ensure that virus circulation does not increase.
“The remaining focus as we go forwards into the summer and look to next autumn will be to ensure that variants of concern are not able to establish and grow, particularly if these may threaten the efficacy of the vaccines.
“Longer term, it is likely that booster vaccines that address the main mutations can be given to reduce any further risk.”
Others also urged caution, noting that cases remained higher than in early September and there were areas of the country where infection levels were high.
The rapid rise in cases of a “variant of concern” first detected in India, called B.1.617.2, has also caused consternation: on Thursday the Guardian revealed clusters of this variant have been found across England, with some linked to community transmission, while Public Health England has said there is evidence to suggest B.1.617.2 is at least as transmissible as B.1.1.7, the “Kent variant” that currently dominates in the UK.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, experts said it was too soon to be sure just how problematic B.1.617.2 may be.
“At the moment there is just not enough information to say whether this causes more severe disease or not, but there is no reason for me at the moment to think that it does,” said Prof Sharon Peacock of the University of Cambridge, who is executive director and chair of the Covid-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium. More data is needed to be sure just how transmissible the variant is compared with others, she added.
However, Prof Ravi Gupta of the University of Cambridge said it was possible the Indian variant, or even the South African one, could become dominant in the UK – although he noted CogUK was now able to sequence specimens rapidly, aiding detection and action.
“We have very low transmission in the UK, so there is an opening in a way for a virus that is better adapted to vaccinated people to start transmitting,” he said, although he noted this would not cause severe disease, or death, in the majority of people. “It all depends on the dynamics of transmission and how quickly we can detect them and close them off.”
