Businesses across Southport are preparing to reopen on July 4 – dubbed ‘Super Saturday’ – as Boris Johnson says it’s time for England to come out of ‘hibernation’.
The Prime Minister today said that bars, restaurants, cinemas and hairdressers will now be able to get back up and running.
It follows the reopening of shops last Monday.
The PM also gave family and friends the green light to meet up indoors for the first time in months.
And, crucially, he announced that the social distancing rule is being halved to ‘one metre plus’ to free up thousands of businesses, with precautions such as face masks deployed to make sure the risks of transmission stay ‘broadly’ the same.
Staycations are also back on the agenda, with hotels, campsites and holiday cottages permitted as long as they comply with ‘Covid secure’ guidelines.
Church services – including wedding ceremonies for up to 30 people – can restart, but there is a ban on singing as it poses a ‘particular’ threat of spread.
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Two households will be allowed to gather indoors, in their homes or at a restaurant or museum, with no limit on numbers. Currently there is a ceiling of six people outdoors, which was seen as disadvantaging bigger families.
But they will have to observe social distancing, meaning grandparents will have to wait a bit longer to hug their grandchildren. A mooted expansion of social ‘bubbles’ to allow people to mix freely has seemingly been shelved.
Nail bars, gyms and swimming pools will also remain off limits after officials decided they are currently too dangerous to operate.
Mr Johnson insisted the overhaul has been approved by medical chief Chris Whitty and science chief Patrick Vallance. He said a ‘new but cautious optimism is palpable’ in the country, and the ‘bustle’ was returning to the streets.
He said: “’Today we can say that our long national hibernation is beginning to come to an end.”
But he also warned that the Government was prepared for local ‘flare ups’ and changes will be reversed immediately if people abuse the new rules.
He said: “We have been clear that our cautious relaxation of the guidance is entirely conditional on our continued defeat of the virus.
“Slowly but surely these changes will restore a sense of normality.”
Yesterday’s death toll rose by 15 – the lowest figure since March 13, ten days before the lockdown began.
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