Thread by @benrileysmith

NEW: Many more details have now been confirmed about Boris Johnson’s reopening plan. This is what we know... (thread) 1/

There will be four stages in the road map, announced tomorrow. They roughly align with the coming months: March, April, May, June. 2/

There will be specific dates but they will be ‘earliest dates’. So ones that can be pushed back if the data turns bad. 3/

To move between each stage the country will need to meet four ‘tests’, linked to data. They are...

1) Vaccine rollout is going as planned
2) Vaccine is driving down deaths / hospitalisations
3) Cases won’t overload NHS
4) New variants aren’t changing risk assessment 4/

Stage one of the reopening will (confusingly) have two parts.

STAGE 1, PART 1: MARCH 8

- All schools in England (primary + secondary) open. Some schools may stagger class return due to testing demands.

- All school sport returns. Both outdoor and indoor (so PE class allowed). Schools will make their own calls

- Care home residents can be visited by 1 person. After test and wearing PPE they can visit inside + hold hands!

- One-on-one outdoor chat allowed, not just exercise

STAGE 1, PART 2: MARCH 29

- Outdoor organised sport is back! For children and adults. Team and social distanced stuff. So five-a-side football, weekend golf, tennis, hockey returns

- Group outdoor meetings are back! Rule of six returns, so 6 people from up to 6 different households can meet outside. Plus...

- ...two different households can meet outside! So two families can get together even if they make up more than 6 people

- ‘Stay at home’ order goes, @Telegraph understands. People no longer told they must stay at home by law. (BUT message is still work from home if possible).

- Also... the ‘stay in local area’ guidance will go on March 29, @Telegraph understands. It means you can drive a few hours, see someone outside, and drive back in a day without breaking rules.

NB: All these rule changes in place for Easter Sunday, Apr 4.

Specifics of the next stages (two, three and four) are being more closely guarded by No 10.

A combination of hints from Gov sources and logic from previous road maps / PM statements would suggest something like this...

STAGE TWO: Possibly April

- Shops likely to reopen. Unclear how exactly, whether it will be click and collect or limits on people coming in

- Possibly pubs / restaurants could start serving outside. (By April 15 all aged over 50 will have been offered a jab, per Gov target)

- Chance universities could be allowed to return in stage two as well. An issue lots of people asking about, we’ll know tomorrow but looks like April at earliest.

STAGE THREE: Possibly May?
- Pubs / restaurants potentially opening inside?
- Hairdressers open?

STAGE FOUR: Possibly June?
- Hotels and B&Bs allowed to open with restrictions?
- Could ‘staycations’ be allowed?
- Will households finally be able to meet indoors?

Some rules also look unlikely to change any time soon
- Keep two meters apart if poss
- Wear a mask when needed
- Work from home if poss

A fuller version of this breakdown is over here. As stressed above, we now have clarity on stage one and the ‘four tests’. Many more details on stage 2, 3, 4 tomorrow.
telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/…

PM’s roadmap was signed off by key cabinet ministers this morning. 1hr Zoom meeting. All done in time for Sunday lunch.

One pro-Johnson source on call called it “harmonious”. A Gov source called it “a rubber-stamping exercise”. Piece with @LOS_Fisher: telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/2…

Lastly, here’s our P1 tomorrow. The central theme teeing up the plan from No 10 is ‘caution’. We are reopening, but gradually, watching the data as we go. Not long for all the details now. END
telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/…