No UK Economic Return until July: Raab
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The British government says non-essential retailers will not go back to work until June at the earliest, while other sectors will not resume until at least July.
"There's the other changes for things like non-essential retail and people going back to school, particularly primary school, which won't start until the earliest on the first of June, subject to conditions," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Monday, Australian Associated Press reported.
"Starting from the 4th of July at the very earliest, those other sectors where they are inherently more difficult because people are mixing together and it's difficult to maintain the social distancing, we wouldn't be able to say ... That we would start them at least until the 4th of July."
Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the coronavirus lockdown would not end yet, urging people to "stay alert" to the risks as he outlined plans to begin slowly easing measures which had closed down much of the economy for almost seven weeks.
Johnson announced a limited easing of restrictions, including allowing people to exercise outside more often and encouraging those who cannot work from home to return to their jobs.
"This is not the time simply to end the lockdown this week," he said in a televised address.
"Instead we are taking the first careful steps to modify our measures."
Johnson's government has faced criticism from opposition parties and others over its handling of the pandemic and the prime minister is wary of taking the brakes off too soon.
Britain's coronavirus death toll - 31,855 - is the second highest in the world, behind only the United States.
The UK's death toll rose by 269 on Sunday, the Department of Health said.
While Johnson's government was giving directions for England, it wanted Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - to take the same approach.
But there were immediate divisions, with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon saying she was sticking with the existing "stay at home" message.
In a separate development, Heathrow Airport called on the government to lay out its plans on how borders would be re-opened, after saying on Monday its passenger numbers plunged in April by 97 per cent.
Heathrow, the busiest airport in Europe, said a UK government plan for a 14-day quarantine for arrivals would mean very few people would travel.
The airport called on the government to explain how the country could exit the quarantine plan and re-open borders to allow the movement of people and goods.
