UK Health Secretary, Matt Hancock announced at a press conference on 15 May 2020 that the threat level for COVID-19 has been dropped from a 4 to a 3 on the 5-point Coronavirus Alert System.
The move comes as the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 symptoms fell to 10,024, a decrease of 13% on the same time the previous week. There were 3560 new cases on 15 May 2020, taking the total number of UK infections to 236,711, or around 0.35% of the population.
Around 2.35 million tests have now been carried out in the UK, with 236,711 people testing positive.
Announcing what this means for UK citizens, the Health Secretary said,
In the first step, as of this week if you work but can’t work from home, you should speak to your employer about going back in. People can now spend time outdoors and exercise as often as you like and you can meet one other person from outside your household in an outdoor, public place. But please keep 2 metres apart. […]
For the vast majority of people, staying alert still means staying at home as much as is possible. Working from home when you can, limiting contact with people, keeping your distance if you go out: 2 metres wherever possible, washing your hands regularly. This is still the single most effective thing that you can do to keep yourself safe and of course, self-isolating if you or anyone in your household has coronavirus symptoms.
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