With the news of Boris Johnson’s ‘Roadmap’ out of Lockdown, what does this mean for Yorkshire, for businesses, schools, families and us folk that make up this big family of God’s Own County.
Here are the top headlines for the people of our region and across the UK… so that we can try and navigate this together.
Read on to find Dan’s summary of each step and what he’s looking forward to when this nightmare is over.
The key points are:
• The lockdown is being eased as part of a four step plan
• Before each step introduced, they will be subjected to 4 tests
• Schools back 8th March, outdoor gatherings of either 6 people or 2 from different households allowed outside from 29th March
• Non-essential retail, hairdressers, libraries and museums allowed to open from 12th April, as will gyms, swimming pools, funerals upto 30 people allowed, weddings 15 people
• Outdoor gatherings with a limit of 30 people will be allowed, rule of 6 applied in pubs, spectators allowed back into sports stadiums hoorah from 17th May at the earliest
• 21st June all social contact limits removed, the rest of society not already open will be reopened, restrictions hope to be lifted on large events such as sports events, and performances and limits on weddings and other “life events will also hopefully be lifted.
On Monday 22nd February, Boris Johnson set out his roadmap of how he wants to get England out of lockdown. This is not only the country, but locally as well. There is good news for places such as: hairdressers, gyms, theatres, cinemas, creative artists and I will explain what these are later in my blog.
There is also good news for Leeds Playhouse as they are offering  a free theatre space for locally rooted artists and more information is at this link: https://arts-mail.com/2YIG-14LE2-19BCD862D2D6F2F54R7IEBA4F54CB64066A368/cr.aspx
Boris said that there will be four steps to get the country out of lockdown and before the introduction of each step happens, they will be subjected to four tests:
- That the vaccination programme continues successfully
- The number of hospital admissions and deaths are  falling at a  low rate
- The amount of pressure on the NHS
- The impact of any new variants
Step 1 is in 2 parts, the first part will be on March 8th. All schools will be open to all pupils, outdoor after school activities and sports allowed, as well as breakfast and after school clubs. Recreation in outdoor public spaces- such as a park will be allowed between 2 people meaning they would be allowed to sit down for coffee, drink or a picnic.
The 2nd part of Step 1 will be from the 29th March and this is outdoor gatherings of either 6 people or 2 households will be allowed. It’s understood that this will include gatherings in private gardens. Outdoor sports facilities such as tennis or basketball courts will open and organised adults and children’s sports such as grassroots football will also return.
Step 2 will happen at 12th April at the earliest if the data allows:
Non-essential retail will open, hairdressers and public buildings such as libraries and museums will be allowed to reopen.
Outdoor settings like Alcohol takeaways, beer gardens, zoos and theme parks will be allowed to reopen also.
Also indoor leisure such as swimming pools and gyms, self-contained holiday accommodation such as self-catering or campsites will also reopen.
Wider social contact rules will continue to apply in all settings: this means no household mixing between different households will be allowed. Funerals will continue with upto 30 people and weddings with upto 15 guests also.
No hospitality curfews and the requirements to eat a substantial meal alongside alcohol will no longer be required.
Step 3 will happen from 17th May at the earliest if the data allows. This will see the “rule of 6†abolished for outdoor gatherings and be replaced with a limit of 30 people.
Two households can mix indoors with the rule of 6 applied in hospitality settings such as pubs. Cinemas, hotels, performances and sporting events reopen though social distancing will remain.
Upto 10,000 spectators will be allowed to attend the very largest outdoor seated venues like football stadiums. 4,000 will be allowed in smaller stadiums. This means they will be allowed in grounds for the final round of Premier League games, Football League playoffs , the delayed Euro 2020 Championships and Wimbledon.
Upto 30 people can attend weddings, receptions, funerals and wakes.
The 4th and final step will happen from 21st June at the earliest. This is where potentially all social contact limits such as the rule of 6 will end and be removed for indoor and outdoor settings, the rest of society not already open will be allowed to reopen such as nightclubs and other businesses which didn’t reopen during the 1st lockdown. Social distancing will remain in place until step 4, and Boris hopes to lift restrictions on large events such as large sports events and performances, potentially using mass testing to reduce the risk of infection. He also hopes to remove all limits on weddings and other “life events.
The key points are:
- The lockdown is being eased as part of a four step plan
- Before each step introduced, they will be subjected to 4 tests
- Schools back 8th March, outdoor gatherings of either 6 people or 2 from different households allowed outside
- Non-essential retail, hairdressers, libraries and museums allowed to open from 12th April, as will gyms, swimming pools, funerals upto 30 people allowed, weddings 15 people
- Outdoor gatherings with a limit of 30 people will be allowed, rule of 6 applied in pubs, spectators allowed back into sports stadiums hoorah from 17th May at the earliest which means they’ll be in for final round of Premier League games, football league playoffs and the delayed Euro 2020 Championships, and maybe Wimbledon as well.
21st June all social contact limits removed, the rest of society not already open will be reopened, restrictions hope to be lifted on large events such as sports events, and performances and limits on weddings and other “life events will also hopefully be lifted”
A couple of things I’m looking forward to is going back to Leeds United that’ll probably be August time and going back to the pub with my friends from my group, and going back to my other social groups as well.
