What was claimed
Schools in the UK could reopen and the lockdown could be lifted in the next two days.
Our verdict
That’s incorrect.
Ignore these pranks on Facebook saying lockdown will be lifted in the next few days
1 April 2020
We’ve seen a number of links circulating on Facebook, the headlines of which suggest that the Covid-19 lockdown in the UK “could end within 24 hours” and that “schools could be back open within 2 days”. Some of the links also suggest that pubs would reopen tomorrow, or that McDonald's restaurants would reopen tonight.
None of this is correct. Clicking these links takes you to a ‘prank generator’ website, where users can create links to apparently real stories which, when clicked on, are shown to be pranks.
The lockdown will apply to the UK until at least three weeks after 23 March, when the government has said it will review the rules. The lockdown could also last beyond that date.
Pubs remain closed under the most recent guidelines and after closing all its UK restaurants on 23 March, McDonalds has not said it is reopening them.
Schools are mostly closed, although schools and all childcare providers have been asked to provide care for vulnerable children, and those whose parents are critical to the Covid-19 response. This has been the case since Monday 23 March and is unlikely to end soon.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as prank generator because the claims in the headlines are false and following the links takes you to a prank generator website.