BORIS Johnson will tomorrow give the go-ahead for Britain to take the biggest single step towards normal life.
The PM will to approve plans for hotels and theatres to reopen and for pubs and restaurants to serve food and drink indoors.
Read our coronavirus and green list announcement live blog for the latest updates
He is expected to sign off the move when scientists present him with fresh evidence of low infection rates and a reduced risk of easing restrictions.
The final decision will be made at a meeting of the Cabinet’s Covid Operations committee tomorrow which will give business a week to prepare for step three of four unlocking stages on May 17.
An insider said: “The number of people dying or in hospital has fallen dramatically over the past few weeks and with two-thirds of adults now vaccinated, the risk of spreading the virus is also pretty low.
“At this stage there is nothing to suggest the PM will slam the breaks on his roadmap out of lockdown or that he will want to slow it down.
“But he’ll want to weight up all the evidence first before he fires the starting gun for the next step.”
From Monday week, pubs and restaurants will be able to reopen fully, but previous limits on who can sit together will still apply indoors.
Outside, however, the rule of six will be lifted to allow gatherings of up to 30 people.
Theatres and cinemas will be back in business with social distancing measures. Indoor performances and sports events can go ahead with venues half-full with no more than 1,000 people.
Outdoor events can have crowds of up to 4,000 or half-capacity and larger venues such as Wembley Stadium will be able to allow up to 10,000.
Hotels and guest houses will be allowed to reopen again and people from different households will be able to enjoy a break together.
It is also the starting date for foreign travel to resume, within the traffic light grading list unveiled on Friday.
Indoor mixing will be allowed again from next week, meaning people will be able to travel and stay with others overnight. Previous limits on multiple households and the rule of six will still apply.
Guest lists for weddings, christenings and other life events will increase to 30.
