'Cautious hugging' and pints: UK PM Johnson to ease England's lockdown

By Estelle Shirbon

LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out on Monday the next phase of lockdown easing in England, giving the green light to "cautious hugging" and allowing pubs to serve customers pints inside after months of strict measures.

The country is in the process of gradually lifting its latest lockdown over a period of months, in line with a four-step plan unveiled in February, after a rapid vaccine rollout helped drive down COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Under Step 3, from May 17 people will be allowed to meet up indoors for the first time in months, in groups of up to six people or two full households together.

Pubs, cafes and restaurants will be able to host customers indoors, also for the first time in months and subject to certain rules. Other indoor entertainment like cinemas and sports venues will also be able to resume activity.

Johnson's Downing Street office said the latest data on COVID-19 vaccinations, on infections, hospitalisations and deaths, and on the risk posed by new variants, had been taken into account in deciding to move forward with Step 3.

"The data reflects what we already knew - we are not going to let this virus beat us," Johnson said, according to the statement.

"The roadmap remains on track, our successful vaccination programme continues - more than two-thirds of adults in the UK have now had the first vaccine - and we can now look forward to unlocking cautiously but irreversibly."

The government is also expected to say whether the rules around social distancing with friends and family can ease, prompting headlines about "cautious hugging".

Junior minister Nadine Dorries was asked by the BBC if people would be told to cuddle cautiously. "I don't think you can cautiously cuddle but the prime minister is going to make the announcement this afternoon," she said.

The reopening will apply to England only, with the semi-autonomous governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales setting out their own rules.

Dorries, the minister for mental health, said the government needed to be careful that society did not reopen too quickly however because variants of the coronavirus are circulating.

According to Johns Hopkins data, Britain has the fifth highest death toll in the world from COVID-19 with 127,605 fatalities. Two-thirds of adults in the United Kingdom have had a first vaccine and one-third have had both doses.

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