LIFE is slowly returning to normal - whatever that means for us now - in York, data suggests.

While any further lifting of restrictions is delayed by four weeks it doesn't seem to be stopping locals and tourists getting out and about, Google suggested.

Google uses location data from phones and other personal devices to track trends in people's movement in different parts of their daily lives.

It compares footfall in five areas outside of the home – retail and recreation, supermarkets and pharmacies, parks, public transport and workplaces – to a five week-baseline period recorded before the Covid-19 crisis.

In York, average activity across these categories was 18 per cent above normal levels in the week to June 6.

This was up significantly from 52 per cent below in the week beginning January 4, when the UK was plunged into its third national lockdown.

Across the UK, average activity peaked at 9 per cent above the baseline between May 31 and June 6 – a higher level than any other week since the UK entered its first lockdown in March 2020.

While many activities and venues such as large-scale events and nightclubs still have several weeks before they can return, many other parts of the economy have reopened.

Read more: 'It’s soul destroying, there’s been so many promises'

After months of lockdown, the first coronavirus restrictions were eased in April when non-essential retail and outdoor hospitality resumed.

This was followed by pubs and restaurants welcoming customers indoors in May, along with many indoor entertainment and cultural venues, such as museums, theatres and cinemas – though all are operating at a reduced capacity.

Google data for the week ending June 6 in York shows:

  • Activity in retail and recreation establishments was 5 per cent above normal levels
  • In supermarkets and grocery stores, it was 20 per cent above usual
  • Activity was 126 per cent above pre-pandemic measurements in parks and public spaces
  • It was 20 per cent below the baseline on public transport
  • Activity in workplaces was 41 per cent below normal

The Prime Minister pushed back the end of England’s coronavirus restrictions to July 19 as Delta variant first identified in India spreads rapidly.

Here in York, Delta is now the dominant strain of the virus in York and cases are rising.

Experts feared going ahead with step four on June 21 as planned could lead to hospital admissions on the scale of the first wave of Covid-19, heaping unsustainable pressure on the health service.

Limits on numbers for sports events, pubs and cinemas will therefore remain in place, nightclubs will stay shut and people will be asked to continue working from home where possible.

Mr Johnson left open the option of ending restrictions on July 5 if the data proves drastically better than expected, but conceded “let’s be realistic, probably more likely four weeks”.