UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday unveiled some “limited” and “cautious” easing of the country’s coronavirus lockdown measures.
At a Downing Street daily briefing, PM Johnson said that from June 1, nurseries and schools will reopen, first to Reception, Year 1 and Year 6.
A fortnight later on June 15, secondary schools will begin to provide face-to-face contact time for Years 10 and 12, Johnson further added during a briefing.
Outdoor retail and car showrooms will start to open from June 1 and other non-essential retail will open on June 15, the Prime Minister said.
Earlier in the day, the British government officially launched the test and trace system in England as part of the efforts to contain the pandemic.
Earlier, Johnson had warned citizens that he would do nothing that would risk a new surge of cases.
The Prime Minister in par, while speaking in parliament for the first time since he himself was hospitalised with coronavirus, said the government would review the data and he would set out the next steps.
The country is now the third-most affected in the world behind the United States and Italy on cumulative deaths, after changing its reporting to include community as well as hospital deaths.
The UK has reported 270,508 COVID-19 cases so far with 37,919 deaths, the highest number of fatalities in Europe.