UK eases lockdown but Covid variant from India threatens summer freedom

CNBC reports that the U.K. relaxed restrictions on its economy and social contact further on Monday, but the spread of the Covid variant that first emerged in India is threatening a full lifting of measures.

From Monday, pubs, bars and restaurants are allowed to serve customers inside; museums, cinemas and theaters can reopen; and exercise classes and indoor sports can resume. In addition, up to six people or two households can now socialize indoors and gatherings of up to 30 people are allowed outside.

International travel can also resume on Monday with people allowed to go on foreign holidays. Countries have been put on a “green,” “amber” or “red” list — with varying quarantining rules on return to the U.K. — determined by their infection rate.

While the reopening is a sigh of relief for the hospitality, leisure and travel industry, the lifting of restrictions is being tempered by a rise in Covid cases that has been attributed to a variant of the coronavirus that first emerged in India.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for a cautious approach to the reopening, warning that the spread of the new variant could threaten further easing on June 21, when it was hoped all restrictions on social contact would be lifted.