Several London-listed publicans surged on Monday ahead of an announcement by Boris Johnson on Tuesday in which he is expected to allow pubs and other parts of the hospitality sector to reopen from July 4.
The announcement is also expected to include a reduction in two metre social distancing rule that was introduced during the UK’s lockdown as rates of infection fall and multiple economic pressures begin to move the needle toward reopening the economy.
Other outlets that are also expected to be included in the plans are hairdressers and bars, although nightclubs and other crowded venues are likely to stay closed.
In order to alleviate the potentially increased infection risk arising from the reduced social distancing, the health secretary Matt Hancock has suggested pub goers will need to register when entering in order to increase the effectiveness of tracing efforts.
"I wouldn't rule it out. It isn't a decision we've taken yet, but there are other countries in the world that take that approach", Hancock said on Sunday
Members of the public could also be encouraged to use apps to order drinks and receive table service to reduce contact.
The government’s expected relaxation also follows a decision last week to lower the coronavirus alert level for the UK to level 3 from level 4, as well as the reopening of non-essential shops such as clothing retailers which occurred earlier this month.
The prospect of finally being able to reopen their doors sent shares in FTSE 250 pub chain JD Wetherspoon PLC (LON:JDW) surging 6.1% to 1,127.7p in early afternoon trading, while fellow publican Marston’s PLC (LON:MARS) rose 14.6% to 71.8p.
There was slightly less momentum for peer Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC (LON:FSTA), where the shares had not fallen as much as its peers and ticked up 0.5% to 763p.
Cautious approach
While the trajectory of the UK’s lockdown seems firmly orientated to a return to normality, the government has also said that the moves could be put into reverse if a relaxation leads to a renewed surge in coronavirus cases.
Other countries, deemed to have handled their outbreaks effectively, have suffered some setbacks this month as fresh cases have emerged.
A new outbreak in the Chinese capital of Beijing has forced authorities to reapply lockdown measures to the city despite the national government having claimed to mostly defeated the pandemic as the rest of the world remained in lockdown.
There are also reports of rising infection rates in several US states, which has by far seen the most number of recorded deaths from the virus of any country at over 120,000 alongside around 2.3mln confirmed cases.
In Germany, the emergence of several hotspots has pushed the country’s reproduction (R) number up to around 2.88, well above the required level of below 1 to indicate that the disease is being contained.
However, Germany may not be in the throes of a second wave, with most of the new cases concentrated in several localised areas rather than across the entire country.