The government has confirmed that from a week today, the next stage of coronavirus regulations will be relaxed.

From Monday April 12, England will go onto step 2 of the road map, which means:

:Opening beer gardens and outdoor hospitality of all kind

:Opening non essential shops, including hair dressers

:Gyms and other indoor leisure will be re-opened

:Self-contained holiday accommodation, like cottages will re-open for households to take a break

:Outdoor attractions like zoos and theme parks will re-open

: Up to 15 people can take part in a wedding

: The number of care home visitors allowed will increase to two per resident *

The Prime Minister said at a press conference: " We think that these changes are all being supported by the data, but we can't be complacent.. from other waves we have seen how this story goes, we don't know how strong this vaccine shield will be when the next wave comes.

"But we see nothing in the present data that seems that we will have to deviate from this roadmap."

• Later in the press conference Boris Johnson said the government was looking at the possibility of easing the rules around care home visits and trips out of residential care and to expect announcements in the next few days.

The Prime Minister said that on Covid-status certification - or vaccine passports - there is absolutely no question of people being asked to produce one for a visit to the pub or hairdresser on Monday.

However he added: " What is certainly true is that vaccination status will be useful for international travel. Obviously in terms of mass testing, we are looking at it and we will be going ahead with some test events in the next few weeks."