England’s long-awaited exit from lockdown has been delayed, with Boris Johnson warning a spike in cases of the Delta variant could lead to a surge in hospitalisations.  

This is the new timeline for reaching stage 4 of the government’s roadmap.

Stage 4 – July 19

The prime minister had hoped to lift the remaining social distancing rules on June 21.

But speaking at a press conference on Monday, he confirmed this date has been pushed back to July 19.

There will be a check point on June 28, where the government will review the infection data, if it still looks bad then the current Covid rules will be kept in place until July 19.

Confirmation, or otherwise, of the July 19 unlocking will be made on July 12.

The previous three stages of the unlocking, were as below.

Stage 1 – March 8 

Two people were allowed to meet for a coffee or picnic and were allowed to meet one other from another household outdoors.

All schools and colleges returned.

Care home visits indoors resumed, with residents allowed one regular named visitor.

The government’s ‘stay at home’ order remained in place. 

March 29 

The rule of six on socials gathering returned. It allowed six people from up to two households to meet outside or in private gardens. 

The stay at home advice was replaced by new guidance to “stay local where possible”.

People were asked to work at home if they could, however, and the overseas travel ban remained in place. 

People were allowed to travel to meet someone but not stay overnight. 

Outdoor facilities such as tennis courts, golf courses and basketball courts reopened.  

Stage 2 – April 12 

Non-essential retail and personal care businesses, such as hairdressers and nail salons, reopened. 

Pubs and restaurants reopened but only for outdoor hospitality, although table service was compulsory.

Public buildings, including libraries, reopened.

People were allowed begin to exercising indoors with the reopening of gyms and swimming pools.

Driving lessons resumed. Weddings and funerals resumed with guests of up to 30 and wakes could include 15 people. 

People were allowed to stay in self-contained holiday lets or camp sites where facilities are not shared, but only with members of their own household.  

Stage 3 – May 17

Pubs and restaurants could begin hosting people indoors.

Gatherings outdoors were allowed for up to 30 people. 

The rule of six/group comprised of two households was also extended to include indoor settings.

Overnight stays were permitted. 

The ban on international travel was lifted, replaced with a traffic light system with different destinations rated green, amber or red.

Hotels and museums could reopen. 

There were also new rules on entertainment venues, such as cinemas and theatre, and indoor sports venues. 

Indoors venues could host 1,000 people or be half full, whichever number was lower. Outdoors, a maximum capacity of 4,000, or half full whichever was lower, was allowed. 

For larger football stadiums, such as Wembley, the crowd could be as large as 10,000 or the venue be a quarter full. 

Exercising indoors in larger groups was allowed, so, for example, exercise classes could resume.