'Happy Monday' - English lockdown measures ease but Johnson urges caution

LONDON: England's stay-at-home lockdown order ended on Monday with people allowed to meet up outside in groups of six for the first time in nearly three months, though Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged caution due to rising coronavirus cases in Europe.

Johnson announced a third national lockdown in England on Jan. 4, but has said he plans to proceed with a "cautious and irreversible" route out of restrictions, underpinned by a quick rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. That contrasts with much of Europe, with Germany and France among countries contending with a third wave of COVID-19 infections and hospitalisations. Johnson has also warned that coronavirus variants pose a risk to Britain's vaccine rollout, which is the fourth fastest in the world after Israel, United Arab Emirates and Chile.