Britain’s coronavirus lockdown will be extended until at least June 1, PM Boris Johnson announced on Sunday, as he uncovered careful plans to lift restrictions imposed seven weeks ago.
“This is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week,” he said in a televised address but added that some primary school children could return and shops re-open from June 1.
Johnson said some public places could re-open from July 1 but warned air passengers travelling to Britain faced quarantine measures.
But in a sign of a gradual shift towards getting the country moving again, he tweeted new public advice for people to “stay alert”, to replace the current slogan to “stay home, save lives”.
People must stay at home “as much as possible” and limit contact with others, a more lenient message than previous rules to only go outside when necessary and to meet nobody outside your of own household.
He is expected to extend the rules on Sunday by announcing a mandatory 14-day quarantine for anyone arriving into the UK.
However, his new ‘stay alert’ slogan drew criticism from Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who warned infection rate in her country remained too high to ease public advice.
“We mustn’t squander progress by easing up too soon, or by sending mixed messages that result in people thinking that it’s OK to ease up now,” she told reporters.
“Let me be very blunt about the consequences if we were to do that — people will die unnecessarily.”
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