Prime Minister announces new measures in a bid to ease restrictions

The Prime Minister made the statement at the Coronavirus press conference on 10 June 2020.

Boris Johnson said: "A month ago I set out our roadmap to recovery and that explained the gradual steps we would take to ease the lockdown, as the data and the evidence allows. The measures it contained were all conditional on continued progress in tackling the virus. We are continuing to follow our roadmap, while adjusting our approach as we need to, as we always said we would.

"Although we are tackling this virus as one United Kingdom, it remains the case that the devolved administrations are responsible for lockdown in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. And it is right that they move at the right pace for them, according to their circumstances.

"For that reason, the specific measures I am about to set out apply in England only.

"First, on retail, shops. This has been the most challenging period for shops and high streets in our history. Never before have all shops been ordered to shut in this way. It has now been 82 days since we asked these shops to close their doors and I know the toll this has taken.

"Which is why I am so pleased that, as the Business Secretary confirmed yesterday, we can now allow all shops to reopen from Monday. It is vital that establishments should ensure they are meeting Covid Secure guidelines before they reopen.

"That way we can keep staff and customers safe while we get retail going."

He also announced that from 13 June 2020, adults living alone, or single parents with children under 18 - are allowed to form a “support bubble” with one other household. All those in a support bubble will be able to act as if they live in the same household - meaning they can spend time together inside each others’ homes and do not need to stay 2 metres apart.

He added: "I want to stress that support bubbles must be exclusive - meaning you cannot switch the household you are in a bubble with or connect with multiple households. And if any member of the support bubble develops symptoms, all members of the bubble will need to follow the normal advice on household isolation.

"We are making this change to support those who are particularly lonely as a result of lockdown measures. It is a targeted intervention to limit the most harmful effects of the current social restrictions. It is emphatically not designed for people who don’t qualify to start meeting inside other people’s homes - that remains against the law."

The Prime Minister added that the government cannot yet advise anyone who is shielding to form a support bubble at this stage, given their particular vulnerability to the virus. However, he noted that arrangements mayl be in place beyond the end of June 2020.

Places of worship will be open for individual prayer from 13 June 2020, while outdoor attractions where people can stay in their cars, will reopen from 15 June.

Of those who have tested positive for Coronavirus, across all settings, a total of 41,128 people have now died - an increase of 245 fatalities from the previous day. 290,143 people have now tested positive for Coronavirus, which is an increase of 1003 cases from the previous day.