We’ve constantly been told — particularly by Boris Johnson — that everything’s getting ‘back to normal’ after the final stage of the roadmap out of lockdown ends on 21 June.
And by the Government’s own benchmarks there’s zero reason why it shouldn’t: everyone classed as vulnerable has been vaccinated and more than 50 million people overall have had at least one jab.
Covid deaths and cases — even allowing for the inaccuracies in counting both — are flatlining, so on the face of it we shouldn’t even have to wait until June.
But what’s the reality? We already know that some restrictions will lift on 17 May, with groups of six or two households ‘allowed’ to meet indoors. The same rules will apply to eating indoors at pubs and restaurants. And we’re poised to find out what will happen with overseas holidays and the ‘traffic light system imminently.
The social distancing and masks, however, remain firmly in place for now — and could well be going nowhere after 21 June either, despite all the hype.
In this episode I’ll be unpicking what we know and asking what we can do to ensure we get the Summer of Freedom we’re definitely now entitled to.
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