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Boris Johnson’s plans to ease the UK shutdown are likely to be in line with Wales, resulting in modest changes, such as the reopening of garden centers and libraries, and a relaxation of exercise rules, the first said. Welsh Minister Mark Drakeford. on Saturday.
Drakeford said the Prime Minister’s announcement for England would be in line with the smallest relief granted in Wales.
The prime minister said the transmission rate allowed only moderate relaxation to allow more than one form of exercise per day, with garden centers and libraries reopening. “My opinion is that we will be very much in line with each other,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today program.
“Our new regime will not arrive until Monday, so we will move around the UK in a timely manner and I still think it is a preferable route.”
Schools in Wales will not reopen to most students until June, he added.
Johnson is expected to take a cautious approach on Sunday, with official figures putting the death toll in the UK at more than 36,000. Plans have also been leaked to quarantine people entering the UK for 14 days and a move to build additional bike lanes.
Johnson is expected to say that garden centers can reopen starting Wednesday, as long as social distancing measures can be applied.
The move will be welcomed by an industry devastated by the economic shutdown during its best business season. Retailers are gearing up for a surge in plant and flower sales, which could help save a catastrophic year.
The 2,000 UK garden and nursery centers had to close in March because they were not considered essential stores. This forced retailers to lose a substantial 70% of the sector’s spring sales, and producers to drop millions of plants.
Horticultural Business Association research last month found that, even with help in the form of financial aid packages, a third of businesses are likely to be insolvent by the end of the year.
About 13% of ornamental producers who responded to the survey said they would be out of business by the end of June.
Store owners will be responsible for ensuring that buyers comply with social distancing rules, who must keep a distance of two meters from others. Shoppers are likely only allowed to enter centers in controlled numbers, a policy that already exists in supermarkets.
Basket and cart cleaning stations, outdoor queuing systems, and one-way aisles may limit contact between customers and staff. Perspex displays installed in personnel boxes and automatic boxes could also help garden centers implement the required spacing restrictions.
The cafes or playgrounds that are part of the stores may not reopen.
While many of Britain’s 23 million gardeners will be delighted with the news, others have wondered if garden centers should be given priority, while many other parts of life remain blocked.
A senior government source told PA Media: “Garden centers generally open large open spaces where the risk of coronavirus transmission is lower. With strict social distancing measures, we believe that they can be opened safely from next week ”
While allowing the reopening of garden centers is part of measures aimed at gradually reviving the economy, environment secretary George Eustice said in Friday’s daily briefing on Friday that expectations of a full lifting of the restrictions lock were out of place. He said “there will be no dramatic change overnight.”
