Pubs and restaurants set to stay shut until May under three step plan to lift lockdown

Pubs and restaurants could re-open in May under a three-step plan to lift lockdown, according to reports.
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Non-essential shops could re-open in April followed by pubs and restaurants a month later, with schools the first to re-open, as early as March 8.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday announced there will be a "phased" route out of lockdown, beginning with a review in mid-February.

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He has said he will reveal his blueprint for leaving lockdown on February 22.

Pubs could re-open by May, according to reports.Pubs could re-open by May, according to reports.
Pubs could re-open by May, according to reports.

He said schools will be the first to reopen under the new road map, which will take a "gradual" approach to lifting restrictions.

But officials are also working on proposals which could see most shops reopen in April, and pubs and restaurants welcome customers again in May, the Telegraph reports.

The PM has maintained lockdown would be lifted in stages - as it was last year - based on the success of the vaccine rollout, a drop in pressure on the NHS and falling Covid cases and deaths.

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When Mr Johnson first announced the new lockdown, he said it would initially last until the middle of February.

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But yesterday, he made it clear that lockdown will continue until at least early March with school pupils the first to return.

By February 15 the Government has pledged to vaccinate all the over 70s, NHS staff and the clinically vulnerable who have been shielding for months.

But he has also indicated that lockdown measures could be extended beyond March if infection rates do not drop significantly.