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COVID-19 Licensing Issues: Pubs could open ‘sooner than July’ Published Date: 28/05/2020

Prime minister ‘optimistic’ that bars may reopen with reduced social distancing restrictions.

The Prime Minister reportedly told the Commons Liaison Committee this week (27/05/2020) that he asked the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) to review whether the two-metre social distancing rule could be cut to one metre saying :“On hospitality… we are really trying to go as fast as we can.

“It is very difficult to bring forward hospitality measures in a way that involves social distancing. But I'm much more optimistic about that than I was. We may be able to do things faster than I had previously thought.”

News reports said Johnson noted that the current SAGE advice says there is “a very considerable reduction in risk at two metres”.

He said: ““My own hope is that as we make progress in getting the virus down, in reducing the incidence, that we will be able to reduce that distance, which I think will be particularly valuable in transport and clearly the hospitality sector.”

Source: The Week