Public against rush to reopen, say ministers

THE public does not back a rapid easing of lockdown, ministers believe as they plot a cautious timetable for the lifting of restrictions.

Early March has been earmarked to move the first areas out of lockdown, but only into the toughest tiers, with little further easing expected by Easter, The Daily Telegraph understands.

It also emerged yesterday that the return of schools could be phased, with children in some parts of the country back sooner than their peers elsewhere.

The UK yesterday recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic so far, with 1,610 deaths. But the number of new cases is falling, with 302,802 infections in the last week, down 22.3 per cent on the previous seven days.

The latest number of people admitted to hospital is 3,634, the lowest daily number since Jan 2.

A Whitehall source said the prevailing mood was to take decisions steadily to avoid reimposing restrictions later. “There is light at the end of the tunnel [from the vaccine rollout], so the question is – is it worth extending the tunnel a bit to get it right?” they added.

Another government insider said the aim was to “start in higher tiers with a view of only going one way. It’s about establishing a reopening pathway. There are quite a lot of industries where if they reopen and close, like pubs, they incur big costs.”

Jenny Harries, deputy chief medical officer for England, said yesterday it was “likely” that there would be “some sort of regional separation of interventions” following the national lockdown in terms of the return of schools.

While the “ambition” to open schools next month remained, that was subject to the caveat that the country has recently seen high infection rates.

Ministers are said to be wary of damaging high public confidence in their management of this stage of the pandemic. A Yougov poll this week showed 61 per cent feel the Government is handling the vaccine rollout well, up from 41 per cent earlier this month.

Another poll at the beginning of the month showed almost 80 per cent of the public backed a lockdown, and ministers are understood to feel this justifies a cautious exit from restrictions.

A senior government source insisted that polling would play no part in the

decision on easing restrictions, which would be based on case rates, hospitalisations, deaths, transmission and the vaccine programme.

There is growing pressure on the Government from Conservatives in the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group to set out a clear road map out of restrictions, arguing that they are bad for people’s health and jobs.

Steve Baker, deputy chairman of the group, said: “Businesses and individuals desperately need hope and the opportunity to plan our recovery. That’s why we need to know our road to recovery as soon as possible.”

He said the forecast of Feb 15 as the target date by which the 15 million most vulnerable Britons will have received a jab should be used as the basis.

Moves should commence three weeks later, on March 8, when the last of those vaccinated in the first wave will have achieved a significant level of immunity against the virus, he added.

Concerns are also growing about the disparities between the effect of the restrictions on different communities. Research from the Trades Union Congress

suggests black and minority ethnic workers have been hit 26 times worse by the pandemic jobs crisis.

The Government is examining options to deal with job losses and will unveil plans to retrain the nation later this week. It is preparing to announce a significant expansion of student loans, meaning adults can take them out to fund vocational and technical courses as well as undergraduate degrees.

But while some quarters of government are looking ahead to the crisis recovery plan, some industry sectors face a longer period of uncertainty.