Cautious cuddling? England to OK hugs as lockdown eases

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to give the go-ahead for people in England to hug again when he announces the next round of lockdown easing later Monday

LONDON -- In England, it's going to be time to hug again. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to give the go-ahead for that much-missed human contact when he announces the next round of lockdown easing later Monday in the wake of a sharp fall in new coronavirus infections. The U.K. is now recording around 2,000 new coronavirus cases a day, compared with a daily peak of nearly 70,000 in January. Daily deaths have also plummeted with only two recorded on Sunday. The country's alert level was also lowered to 3 from level 4 Monday following a “consistent” fall in cases, hospital admissions and deaths. This means that transmission of the virus is no longer deemed to be high or rising exponentially, though still being in general circulation.