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Government scientists want to maintain social distancing measures for the foreseeable future in a move that would affect stores, pubs, cinemas and theaters, Sky News learned.
It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson made it clear that he would not allow the coronavirus to spread through younger generations, suggesting that he has embraced the idea of restrictions for some time, because “no vaccination program is 100% effective. “.
Whitehall has been preparing for a “killer argument” in the coming days about how long the “one meter longer” rule will hold, with government scientists keen to uphold existing distancing requirements.
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But some ministers resist as this problem is existential for many companies; and they fear that additional restrictions that are almost permanently underway could drive some companies out of business.
The “one more meter” approach, introduced last June, means that members of the public can be one meter apart from each other as long as other measures are taken to limit transmission of the virus.
If this is not possible, the audience must be two meters away.
Potential mitigations include wearing a face cover, installing screens, making sure people are facing each other, and providing additional hand washing facilities.
However, these restrictions make some businesses, particularly restaurants, bars and the entertainment sector, more difficult to follow as it means they can serve fewer customers.
A government source said: “This is the decisive argument and no decision has been made. Much depends on it for some companies: the difference between being viable and not.”
A second senior Whitehall source confirmed that no decision had been made on the “one meter more” rule.
Ministers are under enormous pressure from Conservative MPs to lift all legally binding restrictions by the end of April.
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However, scientists are warning Downing Street that new variants of the virus will return next winter, likely requiring new restrictions.
Even once the vaccine has been offered to all adults, which could arrive in May and late summer at the latest, some of the population will not have received the vaccine, while some vaccines may not offer much protection to the new variants. .
Scientists also don’t know how long vaccines will offer protection.
The prime minister said on Monday that there was a danger that the virus would circulate too freely among younger unvaccinated groups.
“If there are many people, even young people, who contract the disease, a couple of things happen: first, an increased risk of new variants and mutations within the population where the disease circulates,” he said.
“Second, there is an increased risk of the disease spreading again to larger groups.
“Although vaccines are effective and excellent, no vaccination program is 100% effective.
“When you have a large volume, a lot of disease, inevitably many people are going to suffer.”
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Johnson’s comments are likely to reassure those in Whitehall who wanted him to acknowledge that the coronavirus was likely to exist for some time as part of decision-making about lifting the lockdown.
The prime minister also said he wanted his plan to lift the blockade to be a “cautious but irreversible” approach.
