Lockdown restrictions to be further eased

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last night that lockdown restrictions will be further eased from Monday, June 15 with non-essential retailers allowed to open as long as they keep customers safe.

Outdoor markets and showrooms will be able to start trading from Monday, June 1. All other non-essential retailers – including shops selling clothes, shoes, toys, furniture, books, and electronics, plus tailors, auction houses, photography studios, and indoor markets – can follow suit two weeks later, from Monday, June 15.

Employers will face ‘spot checks’ to make sure they are implementing social distancing, and have been told they must complete a risk assessment after consultation with trade unions and workers.

Firms have been told to consider a number of measures to reassure customers and staff, including:

  • Placing a poster in their windows to demonstrate awareness of the guidance.
  • Storing returned items for 72 hours before putting them back out on the shop floor.
  • Placing protective coverings on large items touched by the public such as beds or sofas.
  • Frequently cleaning objects and surfaces that are touched regularly, including self-checkouts, trolleys, coffee machines and betting terminals.

The government said the plans had been outlined to the devolved administrations, who will make their own decisions about how to ease lockdown.

All four UK nations are loosening measures to allow people more freedom, but they do differ from each other as they make their own decisions on health.

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