Meanwhile, hairdressers, barbers as well as gyms can reopen, along with zoos, theme parks, libraries and community centers.

"The net result of your efforts and of course the vaccine rollout is that I can today confirm that from Monday April 12, we will move to step two of our road map," said the prime minister.

The statement came as the prime minister was speaking at a virtual Downing Street press conference to give an update on his government's anti-coronavirus plan.

"But we can't be complacent we see the waves of sickness afflicting other countries, we've seen how this story goes we still don't know how strong the vaccine shield will be when the cases begin to rise as I'm afraid they will," he said. "Which is why we are saying please get your vaccine or your second dose when your turn comes."

Johnson said England has managed to meet the "tests" set by the government sufficiently to go ahead with further easing restrictions on Monday.

The government previously set out four "tests" for easing lockdown: the vaccine programme continues successfully; vaccines are effective in reducing hospital admissions and deaths; infection rates do not risk overwhelming the British National Health Service (NHS), and the variants of concern do not pose a large risk.

Nearly 31.6 million people have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the official figures.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Russia, the United States as well as the European Union have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.

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