HUGS, holidays and indoor hospitality will finally return from next week, the Prime Minister has confirmed.

Yesterday, May 10, the Covid-19 alert level in the UK was downgraded after a “consistent” fall in cases, hospital admissions and deaths.

The Prime Minister has now set out a new approach to tackling the virus, giving people greater responsibility for their own choices on whether to observe social distancing with friends and family.

Confirmation that England would move to step three on the road map came from Mr Johnson at a Downing Street press conference yesterday evening after a Cabinet meeting to sign off the change.

The Prime Minister said: “This unlocking amounts to a very considerable step on the road map to normality and I am confident that we will be able to go further.”

But what will actually change next week?

From Monday, May 17 you will be able to:

  • Meet friends and family outdoors in groups of up to 30 people
  • Meet loved ones indoors in groups of six, or two households
  • Pubs and restaurants will be able to serve customers indoors, although they will be limited to table service only
  • Cinemas, museums, theatres and concert halls will be allowed to reopen although there will be capacity limits on large events
  • All remaining outdoor entertainment can reopen, such as outdoor cinemas and performances. Some larger events will be able to take place, including conferences, theatre and concert performances, and sports events
  • Care homes residents will be able to have up to five named visitors, with two visitors able to attend at once provided they are tested and follow infection control measures. Residents will also have greater freedoms to leave their home without having to isolate on their return.
  •  The “stay in the UK” restriction will lift and people will be able to travel to “green list” countries such as Portugal, although they are still being advised not to go to destinations on the amber list
  • Up to 30 people will be allowed at weddings, although dancing will still not be allowed, and the cap on the number of mourners attending funerals will be lifted, in line with the safe capacity of the venue.
  • Secondary school pupils will no longer be told to wear face masks in class and communal areas
  • University students will return to campus for in-person lectures

England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty urged particular caution around the Indian variant which has been detected in increasing numbers in the UK.

From a low level “it has gone up very sharply”, he said, warning that it was possibly more transmissible than the Kent variant which swept across the UK in the winter.

But “at this point in time our view is that it is less likely to be able to escape vaccination than some of the other variants”.

Up to May 5, 520 confirmed or probable cases of the Indian strain had been identified, an increase of 318 in a week.