Confusion over UK's lockdown-easing plans

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday set out a cautious plan to get Britain back to work, including advice on wearing a homemade face covering, though his attempt to unwind the coronavirus lockdown prompted confusion.

Another 210 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain as of Sunday afternoon, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 32,065, the Department of Health and Social Care said on Monday.

The United Kingdom now has the world’s second-highest official COVID-19 death toll after the United States.

“Our plan must countenance a situation where we are in this, together, for the long haul, even while doing all we can to avoid that outcome,” Johnson said in a foreword to the 51-page “Our plan to rebuild: The UK Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy.”

The government outlined a three-stage approach to ending lockdown, beginning tomorrow, with a relaxing of limits on outdoor activity. People in England may take unlimited amounts of exercise, rather than just one trip out a day, and may sit and sunbathe outdoors. Driving to a park or beach will be permitted, and golf courses and tennis courts can reopen.

If there is no new spike in infections, that will be followed in June by a return to class for some students, the reopening of nonessential shops and the return of televised sports, played behind closed doors. A third stage, penciled in for July at the soonest, would see the gradual reopening of restaurants, cafes, pubs, hairdressers and other businesses.

The plan also includes advice on avoiding public transport and wearing face coverings as well as an 14-day quarantine for most international arrivals.

Police organizations warned that the rules were fuzzy and made enforcement harder.

Employees, business owners and trade unions expressed concern about a switch in emphasis about the workplace. Since March 23, workers have been told to stay at home. Now they are being encouraged to return to work — but without getting near other people or using public transport.

Critics said the advice was confusing, hard to follow and potentially dangerous, especially in a big city like London, where most people do not own cars and where subways are operating at a fraction of their usual capacity.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Londoners “must not use public transport for any unnecessary journeys.”

The reopening plan has put Johnson’s UK government at odds with semi-autonomous authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, who urged more caution and said they would not automatically adopt the measures announced for England.