UK CORONAVIRUS lockdown measures could start being eased from Monday, Boris Johnson said, despite concerns over the epidemic in care homes and ongoing frustration about the supply of personal protective equipment.
The Prime Minister marked his return to the Commons by setting an ambition for creating the capacity for 200,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of the month.
In his first Prime Minister’s Questions since recovering from Covid-19, Mr Johnson signalled his intention to change social distancing restrictions next week.
He will set out plans for easing the lockdown in a speech on Sunday, with some measures possibly being introduced the following day.
“We have to be sure the data is going to support our ability to do this,” Mr Johnson said.
“That data is coming in continuously over the next few days. We want, if we possibly can, to get going with some of these measures on Monday.
“It would be a good thing if the people had an idea of what’s coming the following day, that’s why I think Sunday, the weekend, is the best time to do it.”
Downing Street stressed that ‘it is not going to be a case of flicking a switch’ to lift all measures at once, instead ‘people will have to prepare for a different type of normal’.
In an indication of the changed approach, Public Health England signalled the ‘stay home’ message could be abandoned.
