When asked whether hotels, pubs and restaurants would be back in business before the winter on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday (19 April), Gove said: “Areas of hospitality will be among the last to exit the lockdown, that is true, they will be among the last.”
Last week the Government extended the UK’s lockdown period for at least a further three weeks.
At a Downing Street press conference on 16 April, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab didn’t give a specific date for when the lockdown measures would be lifted but warned that lifting the lockdown too early ‘would require an even longer period’ of lockdown restrictions.
Over the weekend, Buzzfeed News reported that the government was considering a “three stage” relaxation of the lockdown.
According to the report, non-essential retail shops and industries could reopen in early to mid-May and other social distancing measures would be relaxed over the summer.
It comes as other European countries have begun announcing plans to gradually ease their lockdown restrictions.
Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that shops under a certain size could soon reopen for business and that schools will start to reopen on 4 May.
She said social distancing rules would remain until at least 3 May, with people advised to use face masks in shops and on public transport. Restaurants, bars and cafes, however, will remain closed.
France’s president Emmanuel Macron. meanwhile, has said that the country will begin easing its lockdown restrictions on 11 May, beginning with nurseries, schools and colleges. Restaurants, cafes and hotels will stay closed until mid July at the earliest