
With a strict, government-imposed lockdown in place, the United Kingdom has seen a continued decline in its Covid-19 cases over the last few weeks.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab attributes it to the lockdown and the “swift rollout of the vaccines.”
“Over 20 million people now have had their first dose, and that clearly is protecting people, having an impact on transmission. So, of course, there's a long way to go, but the signs, the progress is all positive, and we've got light at the end of the tunnel here,” he told CNN.
Although the country is set to reopen its schools on March 8, it will being back non-essential retail, such as hairdressers, gyms, museums, zoos and theme parks on April 12.
Raab said it’s important to stick to the roadmap, which he called optimistic but cautious.
“We don't want to undo and unpick the progress that we've made, or subject people to the risk of, let's face it, dying, when it can be preserved and protected,” he said Monday. “It's an evidence-based approach, and we've got a series of steps we'll take.”
He added: "We want to know that when we come out of this lock down, we stay out of it.”