On 22nd February 2021, the Prime Minister addressed Parliament as he set out his plans to start easing Covid-related national restrictions based on scientific evidence.
The national roadmap out of Covid-19 restrictions has four key tests and at every stage, the relaxation of the rules will be contingent on:
- the vaccine rollout going ahead as planned;
- the vaccine driving down deaths and hospitalisation figures;
- cases of Covid in the community not overloading the NHS;
- no new variants which could change the risk assessment.
By ensuring that we are meeting these four crucial tests, we can be confident that we are safely returning back to some sense of normality. However, if at any point it appears that one of these four key tests is being compromised, the details outlined today will be subject to change.
For details on what each step entails, have a look at the graphics below.
As a country, we have lived through extremely difficult times tackling this virus – this cannot be overstated. However, this road map offers us serious hope for better times ahead, where we can see family and friends once again, where businesses can open and we can resume our lives.
The Prime Minister is able to set out this roadmap only because of the steady and consistent progress we have been making. That is thanks to you for doing all that you can to abide by the guidelines, alongside our historic vaccination deployment programme.
As always, this continues to be a combined effort and it falls on us all to continue abiding by the guidelines. In our ambition to exit national restrictions, we cannot become complacent and flout the rules and potentially undo the progress we have made.
