UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set out a phased plan to end England's COVID-19 lockdown, offering a "cautious" approach to try to prevent a return to wholesale restrictions that have hobbled the economy.
Mr Johnson, under pressure to allow more freedoms for millions stuck at home and offer hope to shuttered businesses, said the first stage would prioritise schools returning on 8 March when only minimal socialising outdoors would be allowed.
The so-called road map would then pass through four stages, with five weeks in between, and the final step - when most restrictions would be lifted - not starting until 21 June at the earliest.
"There is therefore no credible route to a zero-COVID Britain or a zero-COVID world. And we cannot persist indefinitely with restrictions that debilitate our economy, our physical and mental well-being and the life chances of our children," Mr Johnson told parliament.
"And that is why it is so crucial that this road map is cautious but also irreversible. We're setting out on, what I hope and believe, is a one-way road to freedom."
With almost 130,000 fatalities, the UK has suffered the world's fifth-highest official death toll from the pandemic and its economy has seen its biggest slump in about 300 years.
With one of the strictest lockdowns and one of the world's fastest vaccine roll-outs, the country may be seen as a test case for governments hoping to reopen economies and return life to some kind of normalcy.
Even with encouraging data after more than two months of domestic vaccinations released on Monday, the British government's cautious approach highlights how slow a process it will likely be for many countries.
Mr Johnson said the fast start to the vaccine roll-out plus a sharp fall in infections now allowed him to set out a cautious easing of England's tough lockdown which started on 5 January.
As the plan unfolds, MPs will have a chance to vote on specific steps.
Authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which are responsible for their own public health, will also ease restrictions over the coming months.
The reopening of schools is expected to help the economy, freeing parents who have had to juggle work and homeschooling.
However, any easing of social mixing will initially be limited and the government will ask people to work from home, where they can, for some weeks until it has completed a review into social distancing at some point before 21 June.
At the end of March, it is envisaged a small number of people will be able to mix outdoors but non-essential shops and outdoor hospitality will not reopen until 12 April at the earliest.
Most social contact rules will be lifted outdoors from no earlier than 17 May, with all legal limits on social contact possibly being removed from 21 June at the earliest.
Mr Johnson, who was treated in intensive care for COVID-19 last year, faces pressure from politicians in his Conservative Party to restart the economy but also from scientific advisers who fear a resurgence of the virus if he unlocks too quickly.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Source: AAP
He has appeared more cautious in recent months than earlier in the pandemic, when he was widely criticised for his eagerness to reopen shops, restaurants, pubs and offices.
"We are in a not very good position, which is getting better," the government's top science adviser Patrick Vallance told reporters.
"The message that comes out of all of the modelling is... get (infection) numbers down before you start releasing, go slowly, (and) go in blocks that you can measure the effect of after four or five weeks."
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