PM hopes for ‘normality’ by November, says Johnson
Johnson said he hoped for a “more significant return to normality by November”, as he announced further reopening of the economy.
He said: “From August 1, we will reopen most remaining leisure settings, namely bowling, skating rings, casinos and we will enable close contact services, beauticians to resume.
“We will restart indoor performances to a live audience, subject to the success of pilots, and we will also pilot larger gatherings in venues like sport stadia, with a view to a wider reopening in the autumn. We will also allow wedding receptions for up to 30 people.”
He added: “It is my strong and sincere hope that we will be able to review the outstanding restrictions and allow a more significant return to normality from November, at the earliest, possibly in time for Christmas.”
Johnson also set a new target on coronavirus testing – hoping testing capacity can hit 500,000 tests by the end of October. “So, we will further increase testing capacity to at least half-a-million antigen tests a day – 3.5 million antigen tests a week by the end of October.”
