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Boris Johnson’s plan to ease UK coronavirus blockade will cause people to be urged to bike to work, companies were told to provide staff with face masks and garden centers that can reopen from Wednesday.
The prime minister, who was photographed walking to work today while walking through St James Park near Downing Street, will use an address to the nation tomorrow night to establish his exit closure strategy.
He told Cabinet last week that he will proceed with “utmost caution” to avoid a second wave of fatal infections.
But it is expected to detail the initial changes to some of the draconian curves currently in place to allow the UK economy to move again.
Grant Shapps, the Secretary of Transportation, will use his appearance at the Downing Street daily press conference this afternoon to announce a major injection of cash to improve bikeways.
The increase in cycling is likely to be emphasized in the coming weeks due to fear that the public transport network will not be able to cope with an increase in the number of passengers while trying to comply with social distancing rules.
Transportation unions have threatened to derail any movement to get many people back on trains and buses, as bosses have said they “will not compromise the health, safety and livelihoods of our members.”
Teachers unions have issued a similar warning regarding the gradual return of schools.
Boris Johnson, photographed in St James’s Park in London this morning, will set his closing exit plan tomorrow night.
The prime minister was photographed stopping to speak to a member of the public as he walked through London’s central park today.
The Prime Minister’s plan is expected to encourage people to bike or walk to work if they can, and companies should also be asked to provide workers with face masks. Cyclists are photographed yesterday at Buckingham Palace
The government is also expected to tell all travelers returning to the UK that they will have to isolate themselves for 14 days or face fines. Heathrow Terminal 5 is rendered on March 15
Ministers are believed to want to start sending children back to classrooms in June, but unions have said they will not sign the plans until a test-and-trace system is fully operational.
The return of schools and childcare will be key to restoring much of the economy because many workers with children will not be able to return to work until the educational settings are operational.
Meanwhile, Johnson is also expected to announce that the firms will be required to provide returning staff with facial coverage.
The use of such masks will not be mandatory in England, but will be recommended at work, shopping and public transport.
The Cabinet Office has paid for the machines to make the liners that will then be sent to companies for allocation to avoid a run on the NHS-required medical grade masks, according to The Telegraph.
However, such a move is unlikely to be enough for critics, as former health secretary Jeremy Hunt argued today that temperature control inspection scanners should be installed at the entrances of all restaurants and offices.
Johnson’s long-awaited “road map” to exit the blockade is expected to set “milestones” for easing the measures.
Initial changes, some starting Monday, are likely to focus on outdoor activities due to the reduced rate of transmission outdoors compared to indoors.
Johnson will announce that garden centers will be able to open their doors to customers beginning Wednesday, May 13.
Nursery managers will have to ensure that buyers obey social distancing measures, such as staying two meters away from others, and are expected to impose restrictions, including queuing systems and installation of Perspex shields to protect even staff. , similar to supermarkets.
A senior government source said: “ Garden centers are often large open spaces in the open where the risk of coronavirus transmission is lower.
“With strict social distancing measures in place, we believe they can be safely opened starting next week.”
It is also understood that ministers are preparing to recommend that commuters use their bikes to commute to work, in a bid to reduce the number of people using public transportation.
Shapps will later present another £ 250 million for additional bike lanes, while evidence of e-scooter use on British roads will be accelerated.
The closure plan is expected to establish a gradual restart of the UK economy with different sectors returning at different times.
However, workers who can work from home may soon have the legal right to do so.
This would prevent them from feeling compelled to go to the office, make it easier for workplaces to comply with social distancing measures, and reduce pressure on public transport.
The plans are being considered by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, according to The Telegraph.
Surveys suggest the government may face an uphill battle to convince some workers to return to their companies, as much of the UK population has some degree of ‘coronaphobia’.
A YouGov poll conducted May 7-8 found that only 15 percent of the population believes Johnson should immediately lift the coronavirus restrictions.
When asked if it was okay to lift the lock now, about 75 percent said it would be wrong, 15 percent said it would be okay, and 10 percent said they did not know.
Commuters still use public transport, including the Northern Line in London, but there is much more space compared to the number of passengers before the coronavirus blockade
Ministers are believed to point to a gradual return to schools in June, but unions could stand in the way of that happening.
Union leaders have sent a list of key measures to the government that they say must be followed before students in England can safely return to their desks.
Includes extra money for deep cleaning and personal protective equipment (PPE) and local powers to close schools if clusters of Covid-19 infections break out in a particular area.
The joint statement was sent to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson on Friday by agencies including the NAHT Union of School Leaders and the National Union of Education (NEU).
Evidence that school labor unions said it was “essential” to consider before students return does not include an increase in the number of students until the full implementation of a national exam and a follow-up scheme.
TUC Secretary General Frances O’Grady said: ‘Parents and staff need to have full confidence that schools will be safe before any student returns.
“The government must work closely with the unions to agree on a plan that meets the evidence that we have established.”
Unions are also flexing their muscles when it comes to the return of more public transportation services due to concerns about staff safety.
RMT Secretary General Mick Cash said: “There is a rush race to lift the block on our transportation services by May 18 and it is fraught with danger for both passengers and staff.”
‘Maintaining the governments own social distancing orientation would mean a great logistical and personal contribution to manage passenger flows to the trains and it is imperative that all the personnel involved in this process are duly protected.
‘RMT will not compromise the health, safety and livelihoods of our members and we will accept nothing that does not prioritize the safety of staff and passengers.
“If that means advising our members not to work in unsafe conditions and to violate the government’s own guidelines, that is exactly what we will do.”
In addition to establishing how the measures will be facilitated, the Prime Minister’s plan will also detail how some rules will be tightened to prevent a second spike in the disease.
That is expected to include requiring all travelers returning to the UK to self-isolate for 14 days, shattering hopes of a quick return to holiday abroad.
The Times said those who violate the rules could face fines of up to £ 1,000 or even deportation.
Such a move is seen as key to stopping a second wave once the UK has cut the number of national cases.
Informing reporters on Friday, Downing Street confirmed that foreign visitors were being “examined” in quarantine.
Welsh Prime Minister Mark Drakeford preempted Westminster’s ‘exit strategy’ as he declared yesterday that only ‘small and modest’ facilities are possible to prevent the coronavirus from reappearing. Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon (right) failed to announce any loosening at their briefing in Edinburgh, saying the “only thing” they are seeing is allowing more exercise in the fresh air.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “I think the ministers have said that the issue of trying to ensure, as we really cut down on transmission in the UK, that we can make sure that the virus doesn’t enter the country from abroad is one from them”. are actively considering. “
The ministers have tried to minimize the emerging differences between the four UK nations in the closure measures, stating that there was “no need to worry too much about the timing of the different announcements.”
The Welsh administration has announced ‘modest adjustments’ to movement restrictions, implemented across the UK to stop the transmission of Covid-19.
Prime Minister Mark Drakeford said the changes, which took effect on Monday, included allowing more than one form of exercise per day and allowing the reopening of garden centers and public libraries.
But in Scotland, only modifications to exercise targeting are expected, while in Northern Ireland they have been told that there will only be “nuanced changes” to the movement’s crackdown.
Environment Secretary George Eustice tried to moderate expectations yesterday as he warned that there would be a ‘dramatic overnight change to the restrictions.
Drakeford said this morning that the changes made in Wales were “very modest” and that he hoped they were in line with what Johnson announces tomorrow.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today show: “ We were clearly convinced that only the smallest and most modest steps … were allowed at this time.
“You have heard what the prime minister’s spokesman has been saying in recent days, that the prime minister also thinks that the utmost caution is how to approach the immediate future.”
“The Prime Minister will hear on Sunday the details of what he is proposing for England, my opinion is that we will be very much in line with each other.
“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.”
However, Drakeford noted that England and Wales could do different things when it comes to education, as he said schools there will not reopen in June.
“We are not convinced at this time that significantly opening schools is the right thing to do,” he told Today.
“We are not going to reopen schools in Wales in the next three weeks, or even in June.”
