The UK government is expected to announce a further easing of coronavirus restrictions and allow museums, theme parks and cinemas to reopen from July 4.
Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the UK, discussed these changes with his COVID-19 strategy committee on Monday 22 June. He is then expected to announce the new plans in Parliament on Tuesday 23 June the BBC reports.
On Monday, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that the virus was “in retreat” and so England was “clearly on track” to ease lockdown restrictions.
Arts and culture reopening
All previous advice for July 4 was focused on the hospitality sector reopening. This will now be extended to allow the arts and cultural sector to begin to reopen.
This could see museums and cinemas in England begin to reopen as long as they put certain health and safety restrictions in place.
This would see pre-booked tickets becoming necessary, physical distancing put into place, and screens in place to protect staff.
Theme parks planning to reopen
Many theme parks in the UK are also planning on reopening on July 4. Thorpe Park and Alton Towers will both reopen with safety measures in place. These include hand sanitiser stations, physical distancing within the park and limited capacity.
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The gardens at Alton Towers opened on June 6, with visitors needing to pre-book tickets before arriving.
Social distancing rules change
The rules in England on staying two-metres apart from other people is also expected to change today to one-metre. This would help attractions and food and beverage locations reopening as they could accommodate more visitors.
There is also a suggestion that visitors would have to register when entering a pub or bar to ensure they can be tracked if they come into contact with someone with COVID-19.
Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland have yet to announce changes to social distancing rules.
Zoos in England were able to reopen from June 15 after an outpouring of public support as zoos struggled financially.
Meanwhile, we explore what museums will look like when they reopen after the pandemic and look at what museums have already implemented to reopen.
