England schools to reopen on March 8 as Johnson announces 'roadmap' to end COVID-19 lockdown
Feb 22, 2021
London [UK], February 22 : School in England will re-open from March 8 as part of "roadmap" to ease the current coronavirus-induced lockdown, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday.
As the first part of the "four-step" plan, children and young people of all ages will return to classroom learning in schools and colleges in England from March 8, Johnson told lawmakers in the House of Commons, the lower house of the British parliament.
Secondary school pupils will be required to wear face coverings in classrooms and shared spaces like corridors, Xinhua reported citing Johnson.
Also from March 8, two people are allowed for recreation in outdoor public spaces such as a park, which means they would be allowed to sit down for a coffee, drink or picnic, according to Johnson.
From March 29, either six people or two households will be allowed for outdoor gatherings, which is understood to include gatherings in private gardens. Outdoor sports facilities such as tennis or basketball courts will reopen, he added. "This roadmap exiting the lockdown depend on "data not dates" and the plan was designed to be "cautious but irreversible."
There was "no credible route to a zero-COVID Britain nor indeed a zero-COVID world", he warned.
According to the Prime Minister, four conditions must be met at each phase of lockdown easing -- the coronavirus vaccine programme continues to go to plan; evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently reducing the death toll and hospitalization; infection rates do not risk a surge in hospital admissions; and new variants of the virus do not fundamentally change the risk of lifting restrictions.
