Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the first phase in his strategy to reopen the United Kingdom during the coronavirus pandemic.

Johnson, who overcame his own bout of COVID-19, said on Sunday that the nation would be taking its first steps to allow people to return to normal life without risking another spike in COVID-19 cases starting this week. He said it would be “madness” to allow a rushed return to normalcy to lead to more coronavirus hospitalizations just as the nation started to see a decline in cases.