Introduction
1. The Government’s overriding goal is to protect the lives and livelihoods of citizens across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. The COVID-19 Response – Spring 2021 (the roadmap) set out how the Government would continue to protect and support citizens across the UK and provided a roadmap out of the restrictions in place across England.
2. The Government committed to taking a cautious approach to easing those restrictions, guided by data instead of dates, to avoid another surge in infections that could put unsustainable pressure on the NHS. The roadmap set out “no earlier than” dates for these steps, which are five weeks apart. This allows four weeks for the data to begin to reflect the impact of the previous step and a further week’s notice to individuals and businesses before introducing the changes.
3. More than 31 million people have now been vaccinated in the UK, helping to break the link between rising cases and hospitalisations and deaths.
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