This archive report was first published on 21 June 2020.
As the UK continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced on Sunday that the country is 'on track' to further ease its nationwide lockdown. This comes as Britain's Chief Medical Officers lowered the coronavirus alert level from four to three on Friday, indicating that the level of transmission is decreasing.
According to Hancock, the government will soon set out the details of its plans to further ease the lockdown, including new protective measures such as wearing face masks in public spaces. The plan, which was published last month, aims to lift restrictions by July 4, provided it is safe to do so.
Opposition figures and health experts have criticized the UK government's reopening strategy, with some questioning the decision to abandon plans for a coronavirus tracing app and instead build a new app based on a system created by Google and Apple.
Despite the criticism, the UK government has made progress in easing lockdown restrictions. From June 1, England began to ease restrictions, allowing people to visit outdoor attractions, retail stores, and places of worship. However, relatives are still unable to spend time inside each other's homes.
As of now, Britain has recorded 304,580 cases of the disease and 42,674 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
