The end of lockdown?

26 February 2021

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has set out a four step plan to take many of us out of lockdown. The Government’s vaccination programme rollout is progressing well and we’re getting closer to some restrictions being lifted. Here are some of the key milestones from the Prime Minister’s plan:

• All schools in England to reopen from 8 March and two people allowed to meet outdoors for a chat in addition to exercise;
• Twice weekly testing for secondary school and college pupils;
• Families and support bubbles encouraged to get regular testing;
• Clinically extremely vulnerable people advised to shield until at least end of March;
• Outdoor gatherings of six people or two households allowed from 29 March;
• Most social contact restrictions lifted from 17 May and limited mixing indoors;
• Tentative date from 21 June for lifting of all legal limits on social contact;
• Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales will define their own roadmap; and
• All of these dates are subject to change…

With an end to lockdown in sight, our COVID-19 response team have been giving thought to what a future return to work might look like, including dusting down and revisiting some of the plans we had started to put into action last year before the second lockdown was announced. However, this is very much background planning for the future – on a day to day basis we remain driven by Government guidance, which is still to work from home where possible and minimise all travel.

While COVID-19 cases remain high, we don’t anticipate changes to EQ’s approach just yet. Our focus continues to be on keeping our colleagues safe and on providing an uninterrupted service for the millions of customers, shareholders and pensioners who rely on us.

From the Team at Equiniti