UK to announce next phase of COVID lockdown easing, minister says

FILE PHOTO: People gather in Covent Garden as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions ease, in London, Britain, April 17, 2021. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold a press conference later on Monday about how the country will move into the next phase of reopening from the COVID-19 lockdown, junior minister Nadine Dorries said.

“It does look as if the roadmap is on course,” Dorries told Sky News. “The prime minister will be making an announcement later this afternoon and he will be detailing how we’re going to unlock and when.”

Britain is slowly emerging from a months-lockdown which was imposed in January to tackle a deadly second wave. The government set out plans to slowly reopen international travel on Friday and indoor hospitality is expected to resume on May 17.

Dorries, the minister for mental health, said the government needed to be careful that society did not reopen too quickly however because variants of the coronavirus have been circulating.