Millions of people in Britain will be able to go to the pub, visit a movie theatre, get a haircut or attend a religious service starting July 4, in a major loosening of coronavirus lockdown restrictions. But they will have to wait a bit longer to see a concert, get a tattoo or go to the gym.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that “our long national hibernation is beginning to come to an end”, announcing that restaurants, bars, hotels, hairdressers, cinemas and museums will be able to reopen next month. Other businesses where people are in close contact, including gyms, pools, spas and tattoo parlours have to stay shut for now.

“We cannot lift all the restrictions at once, so we have to make difficult judgments,” Johnson said.

The government’s decision will help thaw a British economy that has been in deep freeze since March, when a nationwide lockdown was imposed to slow the spread of the virus.