When can I meet friends outside and how many?
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Boris Johnson has unveiled a roadmap for lifting lockdown restrictions across England on Monday after weeks of a third nationwide lockdown that began in January.
The roadmap was revealed to MPs in the House of Commons, and will be announced to the public in a televised broadcast at 7pm.
The plan includes reopening schools on 8 March - with all students going back simultaneously instead of a staggered approach - and plans for reintroducing socialising outside the home.
As the number of vaccines roll out across England - 17.5 million people have had their first dose and over 600,000 have had both - there is reason to be optimistic, but scientists have repeatedly warned of a fresh wave of cases if lockdown is lifted too quickly.
Read more: Lockdown roadmap: What is reopening and when?
So what can people expect in terms of seeing friends and family again in the next couple of months - will we get to socialise before the summer?
What are the current rules on meeting friends?
The current rules in England say that you are not permitted to socialise with anyone outside of your household or your bubble (this includes support and childcare bubbles).
It is against the law to leave home for recreational or leisure purposes such as having a picnic outside or a social meeting with someone outside your household.
However you are permitted to leave your home to exercise with one person from another household. This includes, but is not limited to running, cycling, walking, and outdoor swimming.
This should be limited to once per day and you should not travel outside your local area. And it should only take place in public outdoor places, not in private homes or gardens.
When around other people you should be maintaining a two-metre distance from anyone not in your household, at all times.
What will the new rules be?
There will be two stages to the rule changes on socialising coming up next month.
From 8 March, when children are expected to go back to school, people will be allowed to sit down for a coffee, drink or a picnic in an outside place with one person from another household.
This will mean you do not have to be exercising together to meet someone outside your immediate household or support bubble.
Then on 29 March, this will change again if conditions are met. Mr Johnson said that on Monday, that from 29 March, the plan is to allow up to six people or two households to meet outdoors.
This will include gatherings in private gardens as well.
“Outdoor activity will be prioritised as the best way to restore freedoms while minimising the risk,” Mr Johnson said. “At every stage, our decisions will be led by data, not dates, and subjected to four tests.”
Will this definitely happen?
As with all of the roadmap, Mr Johnson has repeatedly said that all easing measures are based on the data showing diminishing case numbers and hospitalisations.
If this does not happen then the promised relaxations will not necessarily go ahead on the timeline laid out this week.
This time Mr Johnson has laid out his four tests, which are:
The vaccine deployment programme continues successfully
Evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths in those vaccinated
Infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS
The assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of the virus
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