Johnson takes the next step out of lockdown

When Boris Johnson first unveiled his roadmap out of lockdown, there was a promise of an end to restrictions by 21 June. That date was quickly dubbed ‘freedom day’ online and in the press. However, many of the tricky decisions on social distancing, travel abroad and IDs were pushed later down the line into various government reviews. Today, the Prime Minister offered an update. Johnson had some good news — confirming that phase two of the roadmap would go ahead on 12 April. But his address also pointed to how there is unlikely to be a quick bounce back to normal come 21 June.

While Johnson stressed several times that the roadmap is still ‘on target’ and said there is nothing in the data to suggest the stages would be delayed, the findings of the various reviews point to restrictions in some form lasting into the summer and beyond. After the government announced plans to encourage all adults to be tested twice a week for Covid, it appears that despite previous denials by ministers immunity IDs are coming.