Coronavirus: Shielding ends for England as lockdown ease delayed

Today was meant to be a big milestone for the leisure and beauty industries in England, but owners are having to re-write their business survival plans and customers hoping for some more normality have seen it slip further away.

People who have been shielding can stop and even go back to work now but there are questions about how long pubs and restaurants can carry on reopening if infection rates grow and re-opening schools remains a priority.

In the last 24 hours, 74 more deaths were added to the coronavirus total – bringing it to 46,193. There were also 771 lab-confirmed cases in the UK.