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Britain took its biggest step yet out of lockdown on Monday with outdoor markets and car showrooms back open and primary schools bringing children back in.
Finance minister Rishi Sunak visited a London street market and enjoyed a falafel symbolic of the new freedoms while telling traders business would pick up soon.
England follows the U.S. where every state has taken steps to reopen their economies
Read:U.K. sets out lockdown easing plan with ‘homemade’ face masks, return to work, social ‘bubbles’
The steps are England’s most significant towards ending the lockdown which has been in place since March 23.
“From today, outdoor markets selling flowers, books, crafts, and fashion can start trading again,” Sunak said, “the next steps will be to reopen nonessential retail in mid-June, and then hospitality and leisure in early July, so these sectors can start trading once again.”
Nonessential retail outlets, including Associated British Foods ABF, +8.01% owned Primark, are expected to open on June 15.
Around half of the children eligible to head back to school on Monday would stay home over safety concerns, the National Foundation for Educational Research estimates. This would mean one million children from four to 10 years old returning for the first time since March.
Meanwhile friends and families across England enjoyed the new easing of social restrictions, announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday, permitting barbecues and garden parties of up to six socially distanced people.
