Rapid Covid-19 testing and wider vaccination will be the key to reopening entertainment venues including theatres, the Prime Minister has revealed.
The wider use of fast-results lateral-flow testing would mean theatre-goers would be able to have a test shortly before attending a show.
Mr Johnson is expected to outline his intentions for easing venue restrictions on February 22.
He admitted that large sections of the economy haven’t opened for almost a year and said: “What we are thinking of at the moment is more of a route that relies on mass vaccination; we intend to vaccinate all adults in the country by the autumn, plus lateral flow testing - rapid testing - for those bits that are the toughest nuts to crack as it were, such as nightclubs and theatres.”
This was not the first time such a proposal had been suggested by the government. The Prime Minister said last autumn that rapid testing would be the likely way entertainment venues might reopen safely - and that under such a system, theatres might even get their essential Christmas shows.
He intended a pilot scheme at venues in Salford, though If this test occurred, results were not published.