‘One metre plus’, the new rule that will reopen UK
BORIS JOHNSON is poised to announce a new “one metre plus” rule for all venues, including shops, restaurants, schools, offices, factories and parks, in an overhaul designed to unlock swathes of the economy.
The change, which would take effect from July 4, is understood to entail allowing people to remain a metre away from others if they take additional measures to protect themselves, such as wearing a mask.
In restaurants, pubs and bars, firms will be expected to introduce measures such as partitions between tables that are less than two metres apart.
It comes after Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, said yesterday that No 10’s review of the current two-metre rule would “make an enormous difference” to businesses “keen to see a change”, in a hint of the planned relaxation.
The Prime Minister is believed to be preparing to make an announcement on Tuesday, and the “one metre plus” branding under discussion will be designed to help reassure customers and workers that the rule is safe to observe.
Officials are understood to have concluded that observing one metre with appropriate “mitigations” would equate, in terms of public safety, to twometre distancing without any such measures.
Separately, Prof Calum Semple, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said that he had changed his mind about sticking to two-metre distancing, and that he believed “it is now a reasonable political decision to relax these rules”.
The plans are designed to provide a major boost for the hospitality sector, largely mothballed since the lockdown started in March.UK Hospitality, the trade body, had warned that the industry’s usual revenues would be slashed by more than two thirds if restaurants and pubs had to abide by the current two-metre rule when they are due to open next month. The planned reopening on July 4 could be accompanied by fresh guidance allowing members of more than one household to meet indoors. In other developments:
Mr Sunak is expected to issue a warning to government departments over their grip on spending, amid frustration at Gavin Williamson and Matt Hancock’s handling of several schemes costing tens of millions of pounds
Ministers are drawing up plans for a
retraining “revolution” to help tackle a second wave of job losses, amid fears that another two million workers could be unemployed by the autumn.
Two scientific advisers warned that many commuters were wearing face masks and coverings incorrectly and called for a national campaign to “train” the population on how they should be worn.
An ORB International tracker poll suggested that falling confidence in the Government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis appears to be stabilising for the first time since the Prime Minister’s admission to hospital in March.
Mr Johnson has faced a sustained campaign from businesses and many of his backbenchers to cut the current two-metre rule and bring it into line with the World Health Organisation standard of one metre, amid concerns it would make it impossible for many shops, bars and restaurants to operate.
Earlier this month, a paper produced by Sage’s Environmental and Modelling Group stated that “additional mitigation measures” could help to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission “where a situation means that 2m faceto-face distancing cannot be achieved”. Additional mitigation measures include wearing face coverings and sitting side-by-side or facing away.
The Government is also considering asking restaurants to take names and numbers of all diners, in order to pass the information to NHS contact tracers in the event that a customer later tests positive for coronavirus. Yesterday, Mr Sunak said: “The outcome of that review will be announced this week. That’s something that will make an enormous difference to many businesses who are keen to see a change.”
Asked about a possible relaxation of the two-metre rule, Prof Semple, a professor of child health and outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool, told Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’m still saying that two metres is safer than one but in my opinion it is now a reasonable political decision to relax these rules.”
The conclusion of the Government’s review comes after the UK’s coronavirus alert level was downgraded from four to three, meaning transmission is no longer considered to be “high or rising exponentially”.
Asked about the social distancing measures on Friday, Mr Johnson said: “Watch this space.”
‘I’m still saying two metres is safer, but in my opinion it is now a reasonable political decision to relax these rules’