Johnson unveils lockdown exit plan: schools and social contact first

Social contact with loved ones will take precedence over the reopening of shops and hospitality as Boris Johnson plans to set out his roadmap for lifting restrictions on Monday, with school sports and family picnics offered as a trade-off for a longer closure of retail and restaurants.

Johnson will order the reopening of all schools on 8 March and pledge that two families or a group of six friends will be allowed to meet outdoors three weeks later, the Guardian understands.

He will set out a four-stage lockdown plan for the easing of the restrictions that touch almost every corner of daily life, with several weeks between each phase of reopening.

The roadmap will include:

• Rules relaxed on 8 March to permit two friends to meet for coffee outdoors.

• School sports and activity clubs to resume outside when schools reopen.

• Six friends – or two households – can meet outside from Easter.

• Sports such as tennis and basketball will resume from 29 March.

The prime minister is also expected to set out encouraging new data that appears to show vaccines are having an effect on transmission – a key factor for a more optimistic timetable for reopening the economy.

The roadmap will be set against four key tests that must be met before new restrictions begin to lift, including infection rates, which scientists have said remain worryingly high.

The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has backed the more cautious approach, which one government source said was a “trade off” to allow people to see friends and family earlier if parts of the economy remained closed.

“People have not seen their family and friends for months; this is about recognising that,” the source said. “By 29 March it will be the school holidays, so things will switch from kids mixing at schools to them being in their households so that households can start meeting up.

“You would not be able to add any new sectors at that point. At the moment the emphasis is firmly on schools and social contact.”

The prime minister has resisted calls to reopen pub beer gardens from Easter to allow people to socialise outdoors – which will now be pushed back until at least April.

Johnson will announce that restrictions will begin to lift for the first phase beginning on 8 March, when all schools will reopen, despite major concerns from teaching unions. From that date, care homes will allow restricted visiting and people can socialise outdoors with one other friend or relative – which is not currently permitted. Outdoor school sports and activities will also restart.

As part of the first phase, rules will again relax from 29 March, when schools break up for the Easter holidays. Outdoor gatherings of either six people or two households will be able to take place, and outdoor sports facilities such as tennis or basketball courts will reopen on that date, including organised adult and children’s sports such as grassroots football.

The second stage in April will see reopening of non-essential retail and could include outdoor hospitality, and in May there could be the tentative restarting of sports and music events paired with mass testing.

Government sources said there would be some aspects of lockdown – such as home working and international travel – where there was not expected to be any set time for rules to change. “Much of that is still dependent on factors outside our control,” one source said.