‘This Is Not the Time Simply to End the Lockdown,’ Boris Johnson Says

It is now almost two months since the people of this country began to put up with restrictions on their freedom, your freedom, of a kind that we have never seen before in peace or war. And it’s thanks to your effort and sacrifice in stopping the spread of this disease that the death rate is coming down and hospital admissions are coming down. And thanks to you, we’ve protected our N.H.S. and saved many thousands of lives. And so, I know, you know, that it would be madness now to throw away that achievement by allowing a second spike. We must stay alert. This is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week. Instead, we’re taking the first careful steps to modify our measures. And the first step is a change of emphasis that we hope that people will act on this week. We said that you should work from home if you can and only go to work if you must. We now need to stress that anyone who can’t work from home — for instance, those in construction or manufacturing — should be actively encouraged to go to work. And we want it to be safe for you to get to work. So you should avoid public transport if at all possible. Because we must and will maintain social distancing, and capacity will therefore be limited. So, work from home if you can. But you should go to work if you can’t work from home. And from this Wednesday, we want to encourage people to take more and even unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise. You can sit in the sun in your local park. You can drive to other destinations. You can even play sports, only with members of your own household. You must obey the rules on social distancing.