Boris Johnson pushes back his ‘roadmap out of lockdown’ announcement

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Boris Johnson has pushed back an announcement for the date on the "roadmap" out of lockdown.

The Prime Minister had said it would be set out on February 22.

But it will now be on the week of the 22, Downing Street said.

It means the date which had been set for schools reopening – March 8th – could be delayed.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "We've been clear we will publish the roadmap on the week of the 22.

"We will set out the roadmap that week but you've got what we've said previously about trying to give schools as much notice as possible and we've said we'll give at least two weeks."

Teachers have been told they will get two weeks' notice before schools reopen.

The PM’s official spokesman added: "We want to see infection rates continue to fall across the UK, not least so that will ease the pressure on the NHS and ultimately lead to fewer people sadly dying.

"We will look at the data in the round and we will use that to inform the roadmap."

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  Matt Hancock books summer holiday as PM warns Brits it's 'too early' to make plans

In a video posted on Twitter on February 5, the PM said: “On February 22, I’m going to be setting out a roadmap as far as we’re able to, giving everybody some more clarity, insofar as we can, about how we hope to unlock.

“Beginning as you know I am sure with schools, we hope very much, from March 8.

“But trying to set out the beginnings of a roadmap for the way forward for the whole country.”

Meanwhile, the head of a leading health research charity warned it is "not sensible" for a roadmap out of lockdown to be drawn up before local transmission of coronavirus is under control.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said it is his belief that the number of infections in the UK needs to be below 10,000 before measures can be eased.

Downing Street said ministers "will look at the data in the round” and use that to inform the roadmap.

• Boris Johnson
• Lockdown

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