UK Edition
Exclusive: '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, and parks, in an overhaul designed to unlock swathes of the economy.
The move, 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 or meeting outdoors.
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 that No 10's review of the current rule would “make an enormous difference” to businesses "who are keen to see a change", in a major 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 to two-metre distancing without any such measures.
Separately, Prof Calum Semple, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies 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, which has been largely mothballed since the start of the lockdown 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 re-opening 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.
The rule was first introduced in March and set the UK apart from other countries such as France and Denmark, where the minimum distance was set at one metre.
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 face-to-face distancing cannot be achieved".
Additional mitigation measures include wearing face coverings and sitting side-by-side or facing away from someone, but "need to be bespoke to a setting and the activities carried out".
No 10 is understood to be working on a revised rule, provisionally titled "one metre plus", under which people will be advised that they can cut the current minimum distance in half as long as they take additional measures to limit the spread, or are visiting venues, such as pubs, that have been specially adapted in line with official guidance.
The Government is also considering asking restaurants to take names and numbers of all diners, in order to pass the information on to NHS contact tracers in the event that a customer later tests positive for coronavirus.
On Saturday Mr Sunak said: “The outcome of that review will be announced this week, obviously that’s something that will make an enormous difference I think to many businesses who are keen to see a change.
He also called for a "national effort" to help the economy recover from coronavirus, stating: "I urge people across the country to back local business and shop safely.” Pubs and restaurants would also be given fast-tracked planning approval to set up outdoor seating areas and government guidance will encourage venues to take drinks orders at tables rather than at bars.
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, perhaps accelerate school opening and start opening up other parts of the economy where it becomes harder to maintain the two metre rule and where you might envisage going down to one metre with other caveats and various precautions."
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".
On Friday, Mr Johnson said he wanted every pupil to return to school in September, despite concerns that to do so would be impossible in many cases with the existing two-metre rule.
Asked about the social distancing measures, he said: "Watch this space."